Initium: The Fantastic Five
by SweetAmberkins
Summary: They had a mission to do, and they ended up superheroes. One more person joins the trip last minute, and she thought it would be good for her resume to go with, until the accident. Johnny/OC. Both movie plots in one.
1. Chapter 1

They entered the room and the TV flickered on. The TV automatically scanned the channels and settled on one showing the daily news. The news reporter was shown standing in front Kennedy Space Centre, the sign board lit up brilliantly behind her.

"In three days time Reed Richards, one of the world's greatest minds, is going into space to perform revolutionary tests involving cosmic radiation. His mission is being sponsored by one-time class mate and fellow physicist Victor von Doom, the CEO of Von Doom Industries. Doctor Richards and his team will be the first ever to perform such tests involving cosmic radiation, and yet no nerves are showing…"

"Mute, Herbie."

Reed Richards and his close friend; Ben Grimm were sitting in Reed's loft preparing themselves for the launch in three days time. With the TV now on mute, Ben got up and went to the kitchen to make himself something to eat, while Reed still sat on the couch planning out the itinerary on his laptop.

"Aren't you getting nervous yet, Reed?" Ben asked as he came back to sit on the couch next to Reed.

"Well, no. There's really nothing to be nervous about." Reed answered without looking away from his keyboard.

"Uh…yeah there is. Other than the space launch of course, there's going to be a giant wave of space radiation coming right for us! Doesn't that even faze you a bit?"

"Not if this will help me further my investigation of evolution on earth. Can you imagine if we figure out the answer to all the evolutionary questions we've ever had, and how we came to be the most dominant species on the planet…"

Ben rolled eyes, more at himself than Reed and then he stepped away for a moment. He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and answered it, which stopped Reed in his train of thought.

"Hey little cuz. What's that? On the news…yeah I'm going with…hey, this isn't a field trip, missy; you can't just…ok, let me ask him and I'll get back to you." Ben hung up and sighed with a smile.

"What was that about?" Reed asked, curious about the other half of the conversation he didn't hear.

"That was my little cousin. She wanted to know if I was going with on your trip."

"That much I deduced, but I heard she wanted you to ask me something."

"It's a bad idea Reed, but she asked if she could come along." Ben said while looking at everything other than Reed.

"You're right; it _is_ a bad idea, Ben. This isn't space jockey hitchhiking; this is serious business and experimentation…" Reed fumed quickly, and then calmed slightly so Ben could respond.

"She knows that Reed. She's studying biogenetics or something like that…that's why she's so interested to go with. But I'll call her back and tell her to forget it…" Ben nodded with a sigh. Reed instantly felt sorry. He didn't mean to offend Ben's family indirectly, but he knew that's how it must've sounded.

"Wait, Ben. Let me just see what she's doing at university and I'll get back to you in half an hour or so. What's her name so I can go check out her credentials?" Reed asked, which made Ben smile a little more.

"Her name's Amera, Amera Sigure. I have to go Reed; otherwise the future missus is going to beat my chops. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Ben. I'll call in a few minutes to give you my answer on your cousin coming along."

Ben headed to the main elevator and waved back at Reed. Reed got into the elevator that headed up to his lab.

"Herbie, do a search for me on an 'Amera Sigure' and all her current credentials." Reed spoke into the nothingness of the elevator.

"Will do Doctor Richards!" An automated computer voice responded enthusiastically. Reed arrived in his lab, and several results had already popped up on several floating projection screens. There were results for her university studies, her driving records and various other things that Herbie found.

"Bring up result five, please Herbie."

Herbie enlarged result five on the main floating projection screen, which had all her university enrolment details at Cambridge University along with all her majors and minors. Her ID photo popped up along with it; blue eyes, long straight blonde hair and a sweet smile. She didn't look anything like Ben except for her blue eyes, and Reed could only guess that she got her genetics from the other side of her family.

"Studying biogenetics, biological chemistry and bio-kinetics. Top of her class for three years running and set to graduate summa cum laude. Well ok, Herbie, please bring up result two."

Herbie enlarged the next result, which was a video of Amera receiving an award for advancement in science. Reed tilted his head as he thought his decision over.

"Herbie, call Ben and tell him to get his cousin on the next plane to Florida, and we need her measurements for her spacesuit. I'll convince Victor to write it off as a student enrichment program."


	2. Chapter 2

The day of the launch had arrived at the Kennedy Space Centre, along with all the media from every major television station in the world. Reed was talking through the line-up once more with the controllers while Ben stood waiting outside the door. The corridor in which he stood was lined with glass on the outer wall, which gave reporters a clear view to their comings and goings, but it was completely soundproofed, so the hustle of the media was nothing but a movement of their lips. The media diverted their attention for a moment, and then the noise infiltrated the building. Two people entered the building, and once the door closed it was silent again.

"Hey Ben." The tall, blonde woman called out to him as she walked towards him.

"Hey Suzy. How you been?" He responded, and as soon as she was close enough to him, he gave her an enormous hug.

"I've been good, a bit nervous for the trip but I suppose it's to be expected…Where's Reed?" Susan asked suddenly, looking around.

"Ah, you know Reed. He's in there talking to the controllers…" Ben gazed at the door which Susan just came in from; to see a tall, lean blonde man standing at the door, waving at the reporters through the porthole.

"I can't believe he _actually_ made it into the program…why did Victor even allow him in?" Ben sighed, shaking his head.

"Well, whatever Victor's reasons; Johnny really wants to rub in the fact that he's your superior on this mission. I'm sure you're going to hear it from him every other minute…now only to get him away from the cameras…" Susan sighed as well.

"Hey Suzy, you didn't happen to see a girl about your height, kinda blonde hair…" Ben started, but then the door down the far end of the corridor opened again.

"No comment, no comment…" A very worried voice came through the open door. Ben and Susan looked up to see a woman flailing through the media crowd only to trip over the ledge of the doorway. Johnny stepped back and caught the woman before she hit the ground.

"Hey, you should watch where you're going!" Johnny practically jumped down her throat after she fell into him.

"I'm sorry, jeez! It's not like I planned to fall through the door, genius." She snapped right back as soon as she straightened herself out.

"Yeah right, you'd do anything for free publicity, blondie."

"It can't be publicity if they can't hear you, _blondie_…" The woman pointed at the now closed door, and Johnny remembered that the building was completely soundproof. The woman shook her head at him and carried on walking. Johnny followed her in the same direction towards his sister, when the woman broke out into a run halfway.

"Benji!" She shouted as she jumped into his arms for a bone crushing hug.

"Amera! Ah, still the best little cuz ever, I see!" Ben laughed. Susan smiled broadly and Johnny stood back before Ben introduced her to the two of them. Ben put her back down on the ground and pointed out the two of them.

"Amera, this is Susan Storm. She's the chief genetics researcher at Von Doom Industries." Ben nodded at Susan. Amera held out her hand for Susan with a smile, which Susan shook and returned the friendly gesture.

"And this is Johnny Storm, Susan's brother and privately employed astronaut." Ben sighed because of their already rough meeting a few minutes ago. Amera held out her hand regardless with a slightly smaller smile than what she gave Susan, but Johnny refused to shake her hand. She snapped it back quickly and looked back at Susan.

"You got in the mission fairly quickly, lucky I must say." Susan asked her sceptically.

"More like extraordinarily lucky. I did all the training in two days; it's amazing that I even qualified in time."

Johnny grumbled something angrily behind his sister, but Amera didn't pay him any notice. Reed finally exited the control room, greeted by four of his fellow team members, only one of them he had never seen in person. He turned to Amera and spoke to her.

"Doctor Von Doom will be out shortly, but first of all let me introduce myself, I'm Reed Richards…" He said, holding his hand out to Amera.

"…One of the greatest minds of the century." Amera smiled, taking his hand and shaking it.

"You must be Amera Sigure, pleased to meet you."

"No, no, Doctor Richards, the honour is mine. Your theorems have been of great fascination to me for some time. My final examination essay was on your studies of unstable unpaired molecules."

Reed smiled, somewhat surprised but mostly embarrassed from the great admiration he was receiving from Ben's young cousin.

"Shall we get suited up? I assume your medical pass has been approved Amera?" Reed asked. Amera nodded as they walked down the corridor to get suited up.


	3. Chapter 3

Amera and Susan stood in silence as they suited up in a separate suite from the men. The only noise to be heard was some rustling from their suits and boots. They checked their suits and then started plugging in the oxygen pipes for pressurization in the shuttle.

"Hey Amera, would you help me out with this pipe, it doesn't seem to lock in properly…" Susan asked, walking to Amera and turning around expectantly. Amera fiddled with the pipe until it locked securely into place. Susan stepped forward and turned around to speak to Amera.

"So tell me, why _are_ you going with on the trip?"

Amera stopped fussing with her own pipes for a while and turned to look at Susan.

"For some of my school studies. Like I said earlier, coming with in itself is a miracle, but for me to actually be on the experimental part of the team is just…extraordinary. Who else in my graduating year is going to have the opportunity to say that they participated in a live science experiment with Doctor Reed Richards?" Amera nodded at Susan and finally locked her own oxygen pipe in place.

"Well Reed must've made quite the exception for you. The original five of us took forever to qualify, even though _some_ of us work for Victor himself. And you got in just under two days. You must've done something right…" Susan added again, but tried her best not to sound so critical this time.

"I know it sounds all rather odd, but Doctor Von Doom said I was quite fit and a fast learner. So that must've really meant something in his eyes for him to approve me."

Susan's eyes went a little wider then normal, and she shrugged in acceptance.

"Well if Victor approved you personally, you must've been quite exceptional." Susan smiled as she now finally felt at ease with the young woman's capabilities. A knock sounded at the door, along with Ben's loud voice.

"Hey ladies, hurry it up in there. Ten minutes to launch."

Amera fixed the last of her own pipes, and Susan gave them a quick once over before they both headed out. Ben, Reed, Johnny and Victor stood in the corridor where they were minutes earlier, waiting for the two of them. As soon as they joined in with the group, they started walking down the corridor down to the launch pad. Amera took in a deep, nervous breath as they walked down the glass corridor.

"This is the part that no one can really prepare you for. The nerves that come with the knowledge of the ground breaking experiments we're about to perform…" Amera sighed out nervously again.

"I know the feeling; it's probably just the cameras making it worse." Susan smiled at her comfortingly. They reached the glass tunnel which would lead them up to shuttle elevator. The reporters had gathered outside the tunnel, cameras rolling and flashing, but all the team could hear was the steady pace of their boots. They reached the elevator and got ready for the ascent to the top of the shuttle.

"Hey, I saw something on your file that said you're like smartest in your university or something like that…" Johnny said in a teasing tone. Amera turned around to look at him, and he wore the successful smirk of a schoolyard bully.

"Yes, I am in fact. I'm to graduate summa cum laude, _if_ you even know what that means. And I have several jobs waiting for me when I'm done. I'd say I'm pretty smart. Why do you ask?"

"Ugh, no big deal. I just wanted to see how much you can talk with that big head of yours." He answered with a slightly smug tone. Amera was about to bite back at him when Susan nudged her and shook her head. Amera turned around to face the door of the elevator once again with a pouted lip. The elevator opened and they walked down the final tunnel to the shuttle. Victor sealed the hatch of the shuttle and took his seat amongst the team. Reed started the systems check while Ben and Johnny readied for launch.

"T minus sixty seconds to launch…" Reed said loudly into his communicator and the control tower took over the countdown. The control tower broadcast the countdown to the ground, and the reporters scuttled towards the safety of the field across the road from the launch pad. The countdown finally neared the 10 second mark and they made sure that they were all secure. The countdown had reached its zero mark, and the shuttle sprung to life. In a cloud of smoke and fire, they pulled away from earth's gravity and took off. Inside, the ship seemed to be shaking so much that it felt like it was bound to fall apart any second. Amera felt more and more nervous as the ship seemed to shake beyond control, and then the weightlessness overcame them. They all embraced in the feeling of weightlessness when a small jerk shook the ship.

"We have officially docked to Von Doom Space Station. Feel free to roam about while Victor and I check all systems." Reed announced over their communicators. The crew loosened their seat buckles and floated out of their seats. They floated around the ship for a few moments, getting their bearings. They floated through the door that led to the space station and observed all the amenities that the station had to offer. Reed floated in the door after a few minutes, and urged them to follow him.

"I have something spectacular to show you all…" Reed waved to them and they followed him towards a round metal door. It opened slowly, and they floated in carefully. As soon as they passed through the door, the anti-gravity disappeared and they stood on the ground in awe.

"This room is gravitated by electrostatic force. We'll gravitate the rest of the ship in the next hour or so, but that isn't why we're all here…" Reed said, turning to close the door of the room. As soon as the door closed, the lights dimmed and the seemingly metal room around them started to recede back into the station. They were left standing in an invisible glass bubble floating in space. The room fell completely silent as they stood and looked at one of the multiple sunrises they'd see in that day.

"Fantastic, isn't it?" Reed asked quietly. No one answered, but they nodded in agreement. They all stared at one of the most fantastic sights they'd probably ever see.

"Wow, this is amazing." Amera sighed, staring at the earth below. Reed and Victor left to start planning out the experiments, and Johnny and Ben headed out to check all the functions of the ship, which left Amera and Susan standing silently staring out into space.

"Just to think, a few minutes ago, we were right there…" Amera pointed out the Florida peninsula and smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

After finally settling in aboard the enormous space station, they prepared the following day for the enormous blast of cosmic radiation heading their way. Ben and Amera were currently space walking around the outside of the station. Ben was out on the left wing of the shuttle, fixing a control circuit that had blown a fuse after takeoff. Amera was on top of the station fixing data pods to their respective slots. She was tasked with fixing the data pods to the circuitry of the station and activating them; but she practically had to beg Reed to let her do it.

"Hey Ben, need some help? You seem to be taking forever." Amera joked over their communicators.

"Very funny Amera. But I think you should finish your job before you offer to help with mine." Ben bit back at her jokingly. Amera activated the data pods and stood up.

"All done here, guys. Can I just say again…"

"We get it Amera, you're thankful…" Susan joked over her communicator.

"Hey Susan, how much longer till the radiation hits?" Amera asked, storing the activation remote for the data pods safely in one of her suit pockets.

"About an hour. You can still walk around a bit if you'd like, I know you have a camera on you, so take some pictures." Susan told Amera with a slight hint of perceptiveness in her voice. Amera chuckled into her communicator and jumped onto the right wing of the shuttle, before standing back and taking a camera out of her pocket. She turned towards earth to take a picture; smiling happily at the opportunity she was given. As she took her first picture, a worried voice came over her communicator.

"Ben! Amera! Get inside…the…" Read started, but a lot of static caused the transmission to be lost.

"Reed? Reed, what was that?" Amera asked, hearing Ben's voice intermittently between her own over the communicator.

"Radiation…inside…" Reed's voice started again. A sudden wave of goose bumps washed over Amera. She turned halfway to see the giant wave of radiation manifesting right in front of the ship and heading towards them at speed. She signalled to Ben to get inside immediately, and she followed her own advice quickly as well. She headed towards the door as fast as she could, Ben followed closely behind her. As they neared the entrance, Johnny and Susan stood at the entrance and got ready to pull them in. The door opened and Johnny's hand flew out the entrance to grab Amera's. As she reached out to grab his hand, the radiation engulfed the ship and flooded into the open door without as much as a pause. Amongst the shattering of glass and bodies flying in the direction of the blast, Amera remembered being conscious long enough to see something she would never forget. She saw a warped vision of each of her team mates, but soon after she'd seen that, her helmet cracked and they sunk into darkness…


	5. Chapter 5

As Amera opened her eyes, she was greeted by warmth and comfort. She moved her hands a little to feel she was under a luxurious feather duvet. She blinked a little more to take in more sights of the room she was in. There were panelled walls topped with blue paint on the upper half, and a huge painting opposite her bed. There was one chair under the painting, and enough space it seemed for another chair that was currently missing.

"Nurse! Nurse! She's awake!"

Amera flinched from the abrupt outburst from alongside her, only to see some blurry figure sitting there. She blinked again, and rubbed her eyes. The nurse had arrived at the side of her bed, checking her vitals and adjusting her drip before her eyes had properly adjusted.

"My God. Is a miracle!" The nurse proclaimed in what Amera guessed was a Slovakian accent. Amera frowned again until she could make out the details in the painting across from her. The nurse moved to the other side of her bed, and she noticed who the person was that shouted for the nurse in the first place.

"Johnny? Is that…you?" She asked in bewilderment as to why he, of all people, would be there.

"Yeah…" He swallowed hard.

"Why are you here? Are you _really_ going to give me a hard time right now, while I'm in a hospital bed?" She snapped at him.

"No, I wasn't, I…uhm…" Johnny started swallowing his words and started backing away. He quickly turned around and sprinted out the door, almost running into Susan on his way out. He didn't say anything to her either; he rushed past her without another word. Susan paused at the door looking slightly bewildered; she shook it off and headed towards Amera's bed.

"Hey sleepy head. You worried us all a bit by staying out for so long." Susan smiled in relief as she stood bedside Amera's bed.

"I'm sure I missed a lot while I've been out. So tell me, did that all really happen…is everyone okay? Where are we?" Amera asked, not sounding nearly as awake as she should've been.

"Yeah, that really did happen. We're all doing fine now. Victor had us all brought to his treatment facility in Aspen." Susan explained slowly, trying to make it easier for Amera.

"And…why was Johnny here?" Amera asked, trying to get the nurse to stop fussing over her.

"Now _that_ I have no idea about." Susan shrugged. Amera frowned for a spilt second and the nurse started bustling over her again. Susan smiled at her sympathetically and shrugged again, before turning to leave with a wave. She turned around once more, looking at Amera with a smile.

"See you later…" Susan mouthed to her softly before disappearing around the corner. Amera turned to her nurse, thinking she might know something about why Johnny had been in her room.

"Nurse, do you know why that guy was in here?"

"Oh, such strange boy. He always in here for past two days, not talk much, but today he say sorry. He say you two got off on wrong toe…" The nurse shrugged without looking at her, but didn't stop fussing for one minute.

"Two days? How long was I out for?"

"Only four day. Not long. The others only two day though…"

Amera sat in thought for one second when she noticed her nurse had stopped fussing.

"Sorry, is something wrong?" Amera asked quickly, worried she'd said something wrong.

"You on news for many day now. My little girl say she want to grow up to be like you. I think she'd like for your picture or autosign…"

Amera smiled and complied with her nurse's requests for an autograph and a photo.


	6. Chapter 6

After Amera had finally convinced her nurse to let her out of her sight for a while, she wandered around the facility in which they had stayed for the past few days. The passage in which she was walking was lined with glass on the outside, and the other side opened up into the foyer. In the foyer, there stood a massive redwood that stood the height of the building with a koi fountain wrapping gently around the trunk, while the wall of glass revealed the wonderful view of a snow capped forest in a valley of a mountain range. As she stood against the balustrade admiring the old redwood in the lobby, she suddenly realised she was hungry. She was made aware of that fact when a divine smell wafted past her. She knew it must've been coming from the cafeteria, so she followed the signboards pointing her in its direction. As soon as she saw the open doors, she stepped inside, only to be greeted by a waitress at the door.

"Afternoon ma'am. Table for one?" She asked.

"Yes, please. I'm starving." Amera answered in relief. As the waitress walked her to a table, she noticed Reed and Susan sitting at a table near the window. She almost greeted them, but she saw that they were arguing intensely over their lunch. Amera volunteered to sit as far away from them as possible so she wouldn't get involved. The waitress pulled out Amera's chair for her before she'd reached the table.

"Our lunch special, ma'am?" The waitress asked as Amera sat down.

"Yes please, I'd like that." Amera answered, without even knowing what it was. The waitress nodded and headed towards the kitchen. Amera stared out the window at the mountainside and saw a helicopter dropping two people out of it and onto the slope below. She smiled at the thought of doing that herself, when she noticed a figure out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head halfway to see Victor heading towards her table. She noticed a large plaster over his eye and cheek, most probably covering a cut from the accident. He stopped just short of the chair opposite her, placing his hands on the back.

"Do you mind?" Victor asked, gesturing to the chair.

"Not at all Doctor, please heave a seat." Amera answered hastily, gesturing for him to sit. Victor took his seat with a gracious nod, before staring at Amera intensely.

"About what happened on the ship…Reed and I are both tremendously regretful about the accident, and I speak for myself when I say that I'm sorry for the pain it must've caused. We must've simply miscalculated the time of the manifestation…" Victor explained in a remorseful tone, but his eyes were untouched by emotion.

"Please don't apologise Doctor, I'm sure it was just an accident. After all, we were the first to do this experiment." Amera added quickly. Victor let out a deep sigh, starting out the window briefly before looking back to Amera.

"I saw on your file that you're to graduate next year from your studies, top of the class in fact. I was wondering; I might have a position for you to fill. You'd be working for Susan, of course; but you'd be the chief junior genetics researcher…"

"As flattering as your offer sounds Doctor, I'd prefer to go official and sign up for an internship at your company first before taking on that position you just offered me."

Victor stood with a smile, and nodded to Amera.

"Very well. I hope to see your internship application soon, Miss Sigure." Victor nodded again and turned to leave. Amera sat back in her chair for a bit, deep in thought. If Victor was willing to offer her a position at this stage of her studies, was she right in turning him down? Turning down a position at Von Doom Industries? She shrugged and let the thought drift from her mind. She turned her head from where Victor had just been sitting, to the window next to her, when her eyes fell on Reed and Susan. Susan's head was…invisible. Amera leant to the side, only to see Susan's shirt still moving in the shape of what used to be her body.

"What the…" Amera stood up, ready to head over to their table. Susan then knocked over a glass, which Reed caught, well over a metre away from where he was sitting. Susan head was visible again, and her face was frozen in shock. Reed and Susan paused for a moment, either to think or to flip out. Amera was about to head over to their table, when Johnny ran in the door, wearing nothing but a pink jacket around his waist. Amera paused, her mouth agape from all the surprises.

"Guys, you will not believe this…but I was on _fire_!" Johnny shouted excitedly.

"Oh my God, Johnny…we do _not_ need to know the details…" Susan cringed and rolled her eyes. Johnny frowned at her and looked like he was about to blow a fuse.

"No, wait, you don't understand…I was actually on fire! I was skiing and then…I burst into flames!" Johnny explained, getting excited all over again. Susan and Reed's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets when they all turned to see Amera standing at her table.

"What?" Amera asked in shock, looking at her hands to see if anything was happening to her.

"Do you feel ok? You haven't shown any weird…symptoms yet?" Reed asked quickly.

"No…I don't feel any different, but I did just wake up."

Susan and Reed looked at each other and they must've caught onto each other's line of thinking. They both got up and headed out of the cafeteria at a speed. Amera followed them; Johnny eventually followed them as well. Amera was totally bewildered as to what was happening, but her head was already racing as to the numerous possibilities. They were starting to match the images she saw in the split second before she blacked out on the ship. She saw it for a brief second, but she'd always remember what it looked like. Susan turned invisible, Johnny burst into flames and Ben…she couldn't remember; he was behind her when it happened. They were walking towards Ben's room already, Amera and Johnny followed unquestioningly. Johnny tailed the three of them, still holding the pink jacket tightly around his waist with one hand, and clicking his fingers profusely on the other hand. Amera was about to tell him to stop when he shouted at them excitedly.

"Guys! Hey guys, look! Look!" Johnny jumped a little, showing the three of them the flame he had just ignited on the tip of his finger. Reed, Susan and Amera stood in awe as Johnny clicked his fingers once again and the flame disappeared.

"Ok, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I saw something like this happen on the ship. It was only for one second, but I saw something manifest in each of you before we blacked out; like we evolved for a moment. But Ben is the only one I didn't see…" Amera said as they still stood in the hallway. Susan's eyes went wide as she realized what Amera was talking about.

"I saw Ben. What Amera just described…I saw it happen to Ben." Susan said, in shock and concern. They hurried further down the hall to Ben's room, and Reed knocked loudly on the door, but no avail. Either Ben wasn't there or he didn't want to answer. Reed tried to open the door, but it was locked. Reed looked at the three of them and shrugged.

"Well, here goes nothing…" Reed put his hand on the floor and forced his hand into the minuscule gap under the door. Reed looked through the window, and then saw his hand in front of him, fully functioning.

"That's pretty gross…" Johnny gagged. Reed shook his head at him and unlocked Ben's door. As soon as Reed opened the door, there was a massive crash on the other side of the room. They ran to the broken window, to see a hulking figure running through the forest below.

"Damn! I think that was Ben!" Reed shouted more at himself than anyone.

"Don't worry Reed, I think he's going home." Amera stated, watching the massive figure disappear behind the trees.


	7. Chapter 7

Reed, Susan, Johnny and Amera booked tickets to go back to New York City. Victor happily paid for their first class tickets back, not wanting them to be bothered by people asking too many questions about the accident. Susan and Amera got two pods next to each other in the back, while Johnny and Reed sat further ahead. Susan and Amera took the time to gossip and to learn a little more about each other.

"You and Reed went to MIT together? So did you two do…?" Amera smiled, winking at Susan.

"We dated. Briefly. Reed couldn't make up us mind about what he wanted to do in life…" Susan sighed.

"Ooh, I'm sorry Susan. Ok, let's distract from the topic. Let's hear your theory about what happened on the ship. How could the time of manifestation been so wrong? It arrived almost an hour earlier than predicted…"

Amera and Susan spoke for a long time after that; while Johnny and Reed barely spoke. Reed was once again on his laptop, checking the news to find anything suspicious that could've been Ben. Johnny on the other hand, was fidgeting so much that he looked uncomfortable. It eventually caught Reed's attention, which caused him to close his laptop and look at Johnny. Johnny then froze from the unnecessary observation from Reed.

"What's bothering you, Johnny?"

"It's nothing…" Johnny shrugged.

"Johnny…" Reed said sternly, looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"What's the deal with that Amera? She seems to be so _bitchy_ towards me, but she's perfectly fine with everyone else."

"Well, Johnny, have you thought that maybe you could've done something to upset her? Women stay angry forever. Ask your sister, I'm still paying for screwing up with her all those years ago."

"Hey, you deserved it buddy. But what's your point? I didn't do anything to piss her off so bad. She just looks at me and she wants to kill me." Johnny emphasized the _kill_ point.

"Okay, here's my opinion. She's a nice, well-mannered, smart and talented young woman; maybe you two just don't get along." Reed shrugged and Johnny shot upright in his seat.

"What? I get along with _all_ types of woman! This one is just enjoying…provoking me."

"From what I heard from Ben, you really did start all this."

"Hey, Ben's on her side. No fair." Johnny pouted.

"Your sister said it too." Reed almost chuckled.

"Ok, fine. I'm going to sleep." Johnny sighed in defeat and rolled over in his cocoon and pretended to sleep. Johnny got angry all over again at Amera. She seemed to be the nicest person he could've ever met, until she saw him and practically wanted to kill him on sight. Johnny huffed at himself and forced the thought from his mind.

"But now tell me Susan, what _is_ Johnny's problem with me?" Amera asked, seemingly offended.

"I don't know. He usually gets on with most women. But maybe you two didn't get off on the right foot, or should I say _fall_…" Susan laughed, which prompted a chuckle from Amera too.

"Yeah, well I think that was maybe the worst possible way to meet someone."

"Maybe you two should call a truce and try again? Maybe nicer this time?" Susan suggested.

"Point taken, Susan." Amera smiled back at her.

"But now tell me something seriously, you haven't shown of these weird…powers yet, have you?" Susan asked Amera sternly.

"No, can't say I have. I've only been awake about 20 hours now, so I wouldn't have had the chance to notice anything. But then again, Victor hasn't shown any symptoms either, so maybe it's a genetic anomaly that set you guys off."

"I wouldn't say so. We were all in the doorway of the ship, and Victor was in a shielded part of the ship. If anything, it's extraordinarily strange that you _haven't_ shown any symptoms yet."

"You never know, give it a few days, maybe something will happen, and maybe nothing will happen." Amera shrugged with a defeated smile.

"What do you think happened to Ben? What do you think his symptoms are?" Susan asked.

"I don't know, but I hope it's not bad." Amera swallowed hard. The seat belt sign lit up and they buckled back into their seats ready for the decent to JFK Airport.


	8. Chapter 8

When they arrived back in New York City, they started looking for Ben immediately. They had phoned his fiancée, but she refused to answer any more of their calls after the first one; which was when they asked her if she'd seen Ben. Every route that they had tried so far had led to a dead end, and they were fast running out of places to look.

"Where in the world could Ben be? He's literally just fallen off the face of the earth!" Amera sighed, sitting down on the couch next to Susan. Reed sat at the dining table, searching for anything on his laptop while Susan scanned all the news channels. Johnny was no where to be seen, but that didn't faze the rest of them much.

"He's gotta turn up somewhere, Amera. He really couldn't have just disappeared." Susan tried to comfort Amera, but she never once stopped looking through the news channels. Amera threw her head back against the couch and sighed again.

"I cannot believe Debbie's audacity! And that's the woman Ben wants to…wanted to marry!"

Susan placed a comforting hand on Amera's shoulder and nodded in agreement. Susan flipped onto a channel showing a pileup on the Brooklyn Bridge, involving some thirty odd cars. The headliner on the report said it was a suicide jumper that caused the pileup. Susan didn't pay attention, and carried on channel hopping.

"Wait, Susan, go back to that channel." Amera asked. Susan compiled and went back to the channel showing the pileup, and watched closely.

"What did you see, Amera?" Susan asked curiously.

"People try to jump off of Brooklyn Bridge every other day; why _today_ of all days does the traffic heading over that bridge decide to stop?"

Susan frowned at the conclusion Amera had reached, and carried on watching the news report. The reporter that was reporting live from the bridge then came back on air.

"There seems to be a huge, orange…thing standing in the epicentre of all the commotion; quite possibly the reason for the pileup. There is a diesel tanker standing in the middle of the pileup, threatening to explode. Here's a closer view from one of our helicopters…"

The live feed switched to a helicopter camera, and zoomed into the centre of the accident. There was the huge, orange thing the reporter had mentioned, but it looked strangely humanoid. Amera frowned at the way the orange thing moved, and the way it was gesturing to the people around him.

"Susan, I think that's Ben…" Amera frowned. Reed got up from the dining table and headed over to the TV, to see what they were talking about.

"That's him, isn't it Reed?" Amera asked again. Reed looked closely, and frowned for a second, before reaching an answer.

"That's him. Come on, we're heading to Brooklyn Bridge."


	9. Chapter 9

When they had reached Brooklyn Bridge, the traffic back up was so severe they had to run almost a mile to where they saw Ben on the bridge. When they reached the pileup on the bridge, they saw the orange humanoid that was mentioned on the news. The police were busy setting up a barricade, while other officers were keeping the crowd back. Even more police stood at the ready, wielding firearms aimed at the orange thing. The huge orange thing looked hesitant, but stood with his hands in the air anyways.

"Come on guys, I was trying to save someone's life and this is what I get?" The thing said. Amera pulled her eyebrows together as she listened to the thing's voice from the distance of the police barricade. She was now certain that it was Ben, even though his voice had dropped a few octaves. The police right in front of her dropped the safety trigger off their pistols and got ready to fire.

"No! Wait!" Amera shouted; hopping between two policemen and jumping the barricade before running to Ben.

"Lower your weapons!" The police chief shouted at his officers. The officers all complied and held their pistols facing the ground, but kept them at the ready. Amera stood next to Ben, holding his one arm in both of hers; his rock arm now twice the circumference it used to be.

"Amera, you don't have to do this, not for me…" Ben said, trying his best to smile down at her. She looked up at him, her sweet face slightly defiant against his words.

"I'll do whatever I want, but thank you for the advice."

The police chief walked around the barricade and headed towards Amera, holding out his hand for her.

"Come on sweetheart, we'll get you seen to immediately…" The chief said sweetly to Amera. Her mouth automatically fell open from his blatant insinuation.

"Get me seen to? Do you think I'm mental?"

"No, no, I didn't say that…" He tried again, trying his utmost to sound sympathetic. Amera glared at him, stalking towards her like she really was crazy. She snapped at him immediately, making him jump back one step.

"How dare you insinuate that I'm crazy! I know this man, I know him better than most. This is my cousin, Ben Grimm. And he would never hurt anybody, let alone cause an accident like this one on purpose. So I say leave him alone, let him go and we can all be on our merry freaking way."

The police shied back some more, and Amera searched around for Susan and Reed. She saw them jumping over the middle barrier of the bridge, heading towards her for support.

"This area is barricaded!" The chief shouted at Reed and Susan, but they didn't listen or pause in their movement. The officers behind the barricade raised their weapons again, aiming them at the four people in front of them.

"This woman is right officer; this man would never do something like this on purpose. If anything, he'd try his best to prevent it." Reed stated, but none of the officers bothered to lower their weapons. Johnny then arrived on the other side of the traffic barrier, jumping over to join the four of them.

"What did you guys get up to without me?" Johnny joked. Before any of them had a chance to answer him, they heard awful screeching sound coming from behind the officers. They saw on the opposite side of the road that there was a fire engine racing to the scene to secure the diesel tanker, but it was the fire engine that was the source of the screeching. It was heading straight towards the railing because all the tyres were locked in place, which caused it to lose control. Then, so many things happened at once. The fire engine went through the railing; the first half went over but it was being held in place by the now bent drive shaft. Then, there were people screaming on the other end of the bridge, screaming that the diesel tanker was now alight. Ben responded by jumping over the barrier, digging his hands into the corner of the fire engine and pulling it back onto the bridge. Someone fell out of the fire engine, and Reed stretched over ten metres to catch him just in time. Johnny, Susan and Amera ran towards the diesel tanker, getting ready for it to blow. Amera called for the people to run off the bridge, while Johnny tried to get a little girl out of a locked car. Ben had come down the bridge, ripping the side of the cab open to get the driver out, eventually just pulling the entire seat out. Susan stood ready, trying to figure out what she could do.

"Come on Susan, this is all just energy. Manipulate it to do what you want…" Susan tried to convince herself. The fire had reached the tank, and then it exploded. Johnny still stood nearby, carrying the girl he'd just pulled out the car. He knelt down to the ground, sheltering the girl, while being hit by the fire himself. Susan instinctively held out her hands and encased the tanker in a force field, holding it over the fire until it burned out from suffocation. Susan let the force field down; while Johnny let the little girl run to her mother. They grouped up again at the spot where Susan stood, while the reporters came flooding towards them.

"Hey Susan, you have a little blood…" Amera said, pointing to her nose. Susan wiped her nose, to see the back of her hand covered in blood. But before they could say anything else, the reporters were on them.

"Well there you have it folks, the Fantastic Four…" A reporter said, appearing out the crowd.


	10. Chapter 10

"Well there you have it folks, the Fantastic Four…" Johnny boasted proudly, imitating the reporter from earlier. He waltzed out the elevator and into Reed's loft living room, smiling proudly at his efforts. Ben, who just came out of the stairwell, showed how much he resented that statement with a single expression.

"Or how about the Fantastic Three and their Pet Rock…" Johnny said again, smiling at Ben.

"Johnny, stop it." Susan ordered him, but he didn't listen.

"Or even better, the Fantastic Four and the Annoying Attachment…" Johnny looked purposefully at Amera before flopping down onto the couch.

"That's it pretty boy! That was uncalled for!" Ben shouted, lunging for Johnny sitting on the couch. Johnny jumped over the back of the couch and out of Ben's reach, which made him laugh.

"Hey calm down big guy, you don't want to split a rock or something."

Ben was about to walk around the couch to catch him, but he stopped before he reached the end of the couch.

"Lost your bite, Ben?" Johnny joked again.

Ben half smiled at Johnny, wanting to laugh. Johnny frowned at Ben, wondering why he was smiling, when he received a hard slap across the cheek. Johnny's mouth fell open with a whimper, turning to see where the receiving blow came from. Susan's eyes went wide, but she put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Johnny's hand clasped the cheek that had gotten slapped, and turned even more to see Amera standing next to him, wearing a proud smile.

"How was that for the 'Annoying Attachment', Johnny?"

Johnny stood wordless for a few more seconds before walking right past her and back towards the elevator.

"Johnny! You have to stay…here." Susan shouted, but the elevator doors closed before she finished.

"Sore loser…" Ben mumbled.

"Don't worry Sue, we'll get him back here later, but for now, let's go see what's happening with us." Reed said, gesturing for them to follow him to the elevator that went up to his lab. Ben, Susan and Amera followed him to the elevator and got in.

"You're lucky these cables can hold you, Ben. I'll see to the others getting replaced as soon as possible in the main elevator." Reed said, and Ben nodded in thanks. They arrived in the lab, that was mostly all white except for the skylight, the control panels and the giant porthole on the south side. The centre console was shaped like a ring, with multiple keyboards and screens. Reed walked up to the console and started typing, when the room came alive with projection screens and a computerized voice.

"Welcome back Doctor Richards! What happened on the bridge? The news coverage was lost for a few moments, I couldn't follow…"

Reed sighed for a moment and carried on typing on the console.

"Nothing happened, Herbie. Everyone is fine."

But the voice, now known as Herbie, didn't stop bothering Ben, Susan and Amera.

"Welcome back, Ben and Susan! Oh, and welcome Amera."

Amera looked at Reed and raised her eyebrows at him. She knew that Herbie was the supercomputer that Reed had built, but she was curious as to why it recognised her.

"I guess you did a search on me. That's why …Herbie recognises me."

Reed paused for a moment, and turned to Amera.

"I don't mean this badly, but I had to understand your qualifications and reasons for coming with on the trip."

"Completely reasonable, Reed." Amera nodded, understanding his reasons for doing it. Three projection screens popped up in front of Ben, Susan and Amera, and Reed started to explain what he wanted them to do.

"Ok, first off, I would like a retinal scan and both hand prints from all of you. That way, you may come and go as you please from my loft without security parameters."

Ben, Susan and Amera stood still as a robotic arm came down with a small camera lens in the tip. It scanned each of their eyes before relaying the information back to the centre console.

"Ok, good, so now just put your hands on the projection screens so Herbie can scan them." Reed told them again.

Ben and Susan did what they were told instantly, but Amera waited for a few seconds as she watched what Herbie would do with the scanning. The light patterns from their hand prints were projected onto the floor, and then read into the computer.

"Come on, Amera. Just put your hand up here, he won't bite." Susan joked. Amera smiled and put her hand up to the screen, but as soon as her hand touched the screen, the system went offline and the room fell silent again.

"Uhm…what just happened?" Amera asked, her hand still hanging in mid-air.

"I don't know; Herbie doesn't just die like that…." Reed answered. Herbie rebooted and started up again, talking as soon as he could.

"What just happened, Doctor Richards?" Herbie asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about it Herbie, we'll figure it out soon." Reed answered, looking at Amera curiously.

"Oh, Susan, you should see this…" Herbie said quickly, bringing up another projection screen. Johnny was at a stunt bike rally, being completely reckless. As they watched, he burst into flames, lost control of his bike and went crashing into the ground.

"I'm going to kill him!" Susan fumed, watching as the camera crew ran up to Johnny. The talk amongst the reporters made them immediately recognize Johnny from earlier at the bridge.

"Johnny Storm; first saving the day, now reckless bike stunts. Tell us, what do you call yourself now that you're technically a superhero?" One reporter asked him. Johnny looked chuffed with himself as she stroked his ego.

"Well, I'm the Human Torch." He smiled.

"And the others? What are their names?" Another reporter asked.

"Well, Reed is Mr Fantastic. Susan is Invisible Girl…no wait, the Invisible Woman. And the thing, Ben; well, he's The Thing."

"Now I'm really going to kill him!" Susan fumed again, causing her body to disappear. The reporters carried on with the questions, and Johnny kept on smiling at the camera.

"So tell us, what about the other woman at the bridge? She went with on the mission…what's her name, Amera? Does she get a superhero name?" One reporter asked louder than the others.

"Well, she doesn't have any powers, so I just call her the Annoying Attachment." Johnny smiled victoriously into the camera, happy that he'd exacted his revenge on Amera on national TV. Ben, Reed and Susan looked at Amera, watching her reaction, waiting for her to snap.

"I'm killing him first, Susan!" Amera shouted.

"Wait, Ben and Susan, you go get Johnny. Amera has to stay here." Reed told them. Ben and Susan headed for the lab elevator while Amera stood in the lab, still simmering.

"Why don't I get to go as well? I want to kick Johnny's ass."

"Understandable, but I think I just discovered your powers."


	11. Chapter 11

Susan and Ben got to the stadium, only to see Johnny on his way out already. He was surrounded by reporters and leading two infatuated girls to his Ford Mustang. Johnny was smiling and joking around with the reporters and the two lovesick girls.

"Johnny!"

Johnny spun around, only to be greeted by his evidently angry sister and Ben.

"Hey. Where's the Annoying Attachment?" Johnny joked, and the crowd joined in with laughter. Susan shot a single look at the crowd and they fell silent.

"You were supposed to stay at home, Johnny! Reed is going to figure this out, and put us right again." Susan started, but Johnny cut her off, refusing to listen to her.

"What if I don't want to be put right? What if this happened for a reason? I don't know about you Sue, but _normal_ is _boring_."

The crowd cheered along with Johnny, making his ego inflate just a little more.

"Besides, it's not like we all ended up like Pebbles over there." Johnny jabbed at Ben and the crowd chimed in as well. Ben didn't retort, instead, he walked past Johnny and down the street.

"That's right big guy, just keep on walking…" Johnny called after him before turning back to his sister. Before Johnny could open his mouth again to talk to Susan, they heard a metallic crunch and then a ball of silver and red metal rolled past them. Johnny's mouth fell open as he turned to Ben, standing where Johnny's Mustang used to be with a smile on his face

"_Now_ I'm going to walk away." Ben nodded, and carried on down the street. Johnny clenched his hands in anger, and sent a fireball at Ben's head, but it just charred a black mark on the stone. Ben turned around and ran for Johnny.

"Now you're going to pay, Tinkerbell!"

Susan stepped between them just in time, encasing them both in separate force fields and keeping each other apart.

"Stop it you two! I won't be hearing any more of this until we figure out what is happening with us, understood?" Susan ordered them, looking at both of them sternly. Johnny let his flame die out, and Ben put his menacing fists down.

"Good. Now we're all going to head back to the loft before you bring World War Three upon us." Susan ordered them again. Ben and Johnny shot each other one last intimidating look before following Susan back to the Baxter building. When they reached Reed's loft once again, Amera was sitting at the kitchen counter, pen in hand and a list at her finger tips. Ben, Susan and Johnny walked into the lounge silently as they saw Amera on the phone. Susan was still giving Johnny a stern talking to, and Ben went and stood at the counter where Amera was on the phone. Amera was talking very fast with the person on the other side, hardly letting them cut in.

"No, I can't. Reed wants us to stay here until he figures out what happened…"

There was some mumbling on the other side and Amera sighed.

"I understand. When I get back, I'll bring everything back again. I might be here a while, and buying all the stuff I need brand new on this side is way more expensive than the cargo fees. I'm not going to fill the plane…Yes, ok; I'll speak to you later." Amera hung up and looked at Ben standing next to her.

"Well…Cambridge isn't happy, but at least I'll get my things within the next week." Amera said to Ben. Ben smiled at her, but Johnny frowned at her from further down the hall.

"You're going to stay here?" Both Ben and Johnny asked, but in entirely opposite tones of voice. Susan smiled silently at Amera; maybe she'd already figured out why.

"Yeah, it's Reed's idea. He wants us all to stay in close quarters until he figures out what's happening." Amera answered both of them. Johnny looked around for Reed, hoping to convince him otherwise, but he wasn't around. Then Johnny had a revelation.

"But, why? You don't have any powers, so it's kind of pointless if you stay."

Amera stared at him, slowly getting angry.

"I do now, actually. But thanks for the concern." She said sarcastically, and walked past them and back to Reed's lab elevator.


	12. Chapter 12

It had been a few hours since Amera left the room in a huff. Susan and Ben were occupying themselves with some TV while Johnny was rummaging in the kitchen for something to eat. Johnny spat out another mouthful of food, coughing out the remaining bits.

"Is it too much to ask for a little food?" Johnny sighed, pulling on his hair in frustration. Ben and Susan turned around, looking at Johnny standing at the fridge. There were bits of burnt food on the counter, presumably the pieces he had spat out.

"Karma's a bitch; isn't it, matchstick?" Ben laughed.

"Still don't like normal, Johnny?" Susan asked, watching Johnny in the kitchen. Johnny grunted in response to his sister and kicked the bottom of the cupboard. He sighed again before sliding down the face of the fridge and sitting on the floor.

"So tell me, how were you eating food just yesterday, and today you keep burning it up?" Susan asked again, blindly looking in Johnny's direction.

"I don't know, just…leave me alone." Johnny sighed, putting his head on his knees. Just then, they heard Reed and Amera's voices coming down the hallway.

"Well guys, good news. We figured out that our thermal suits from the mission have absorbed our DNA coding and can change like we do. We can also replicate the suits with a new experiment of mine, but we'll do that at another stage. Anyway, that's just the beginning; for the next week we're all booked into the lab." Reed said, and Ben and Susan nodded in response.

"But for now, I think we should all get some rest. We've had a busy day and tomorrow is going to be just as busy. Susan and Johnny, I think you should arrange for some things for your stay here." Reed added again, bidding them all goodnight and heading to his room. Susan and Ben followed Reed's lead and went to their rooms; Susan was already on the phone talking to someone in her apartment building to get her things.

"See you in the morning, Johnny." Reed said before closing his bedroom door. Johnny swore silently at Reed and stood up from the floor. As he stood, he saw Amera still standing in the lounge. She looked rather surprised that he was still there, as she didn't see him sitting on the floor.

"What are you looking at?" Johnny huffed at her.

"I didn't even say anything! Why are you jumping down my throat?" Amera snapped back at him. Johnny didn't retort again, instead he sat on a chair placed at the kitchen counter and stared out into nothingness. Amera walked into the kitchen and saw all the little bits of burnt food lying on the counter in front of Johnny.

"Ew, what is all of this, Johnny?" Amera gagged.

"Apparently, it _was_ dinner." Johnny sighed without looking at her.

"But you were eating yesterday? What happened?" Amera asked, frowning down at him.

"I don't know, ok? Why is everyone bothering me with all these questions?" Johnny asked, standing up and putting his hands on the counter, burning handprints where they were placed. Amera's eyes went wide as she stepped back and headed to the fridge. She got out a packet of steak, some veggies, and then headed into the pantry. When she came out with some potatoes, Johnny was watching her with big eyes.

"Why are you staring, Johnny?" She snapped.

"Because _you_ get to eat!"

"That's not my fault!"

"It's not mine either! I just think about eating and it literally turns to coal." He sighed. She didn't respond to him, and went about her way in the kitchen. She put the potatoes in the microwave, and touched it gently as it went on. Then she started steaming some vegetables before going back to Johnny. She wouldn't admit it, but she felt bad for him and wanted to find out why he was running at such a high temperature. So before she dished up any of the food, she sat in front of Johnny and stared at him.

"Ok, tell me, why are you so wound up today?"

"What do you mean?" Johnny looked right at her and frowned.

"Look, I think the reason why you're literally running on such a high today is because you're on edge about something. So spit it out and maybe you'll cool down enough to have something to eat."

Johnny frowned and looked away, not bothering to answer her.

"Johnny, please just try."

Johnny looked up at her, to see her smiling gently at him. His resistance wavered a little and he tried to answer her.

"Ok, I'm…_uncomfortable_ around you. There, I said it."

Amera's gentle smile dropped for a moment as she thought about what he said.

"But…why?" She frowned.

"Because apparently you hate me and want to kill me every time you set eyes on me." He mumbled. Amera's mouth fell open from shock as she tried to come up with an answer.

"I don't hate you Johnny…you're the one who started _this_ whole _thing_ anyway!"

"You're the one who fell into me, remember?" Johnny stated.

"And I wouldn't do something like that on purpose." Amera said, trying her best to sound calm even though she was a little irritated with what he'd just said. Johnny looked at her, and he could see she was being completely honest.

"Ok, I'm sorry." Johnny mumbled. Amera froze in place as she heard Johnny speak those words.

"Sorry? Why are you sorry?" Amera asked.

"I _did_ start all this. I guess I was a little hot-headed the day of the launch and I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. And the 'Annoying Attachment' thing I did on the news was uncalled for. So, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, Johnny. For a minute, I thought I _was_ going to be the 'Annoying Attachment'." Amera sighed rather sadly, and stood up and started cooking the steak. As soon as they were done, she plated up everything, and slid a plate in front of Johnny.

"There you go. Hopefully now you can eat."

Johnny sat up straight and looked at the food Amera had just put in front of him. He grabbed a knife and fork, cut a piece of steak and put it in his mouth. He mumbled in delight.

"Thanks, Amera."

"Anytime, Johnny."

They ate in silence as Johnny wolfed down his food and barely took breaths between bites. When Johnny had finished eating, he sat back in his chair and looked at Amera, who was still eating.

"So, how did you figure out that the little talk we just had would work on _cooling_ me down?" He asked. Amera looked up with a smile on her face, causing Johnny to swallow hard.

"Psychology minor. Well, only the first year." Amera answered, picking up her and Johnny's plates and taking them into the scullery when she was done. She came back into the kitchen and looked at him curiously. She stood at edge of the counter again, looking at Johnny

"I'm also sorry, about earlier. I guess I shouldn't have slapped you…well, not that hard anyway." She apologised to him, which made him shrug.

"I kinda deserved it. So no worries"

"You know what? We got off on the wrong foot…or fall as Susan said. So let's try again…" Amera said, holding out her hand to Johnny.

"My name's Amera Sigure. And yours?"

Johnny smiled at what she was thinking, and stood up, taking her hand in his.

"Johnny Storm." Johnny answered, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you, mister Storm. So are we friends now?" Amera asked.

"Hey, not so fast, we just met." Johnny smirked and Amera laughed at his answer.


	13. Chapter 13

The following week was filled with experiments, as Reed had promised. They were all in Reed's lab, being tested one by one as Reed called them up. Johnny had tested how hot he can go, and the thermometer went up to 5500ºC, the temperature of the sun's surface. Johnny ended up melting the test chamber, leaving molten metal pools on the lab floor, which meant they could no longer test him. They also discovered that with the heat he put out, he could also fly. Ben could lift up to ten tons, which was all Reed could manage to get into his lab at the moment. Susan was still in testing, standing on the lab floor with Ben, Johnny and Amera watching. Reed was up in the glass cocoon that looked over the lab floor. Reed was entering data into the computer console up in the cocoon while Susan stood waiting.

"I don't know what else to test you on. It's hard to measure your limits." Reed said, going through Susan results on the computer.

"Let's put her in the spare metal chamber, like the one we had Johnny in. Let's see if she can break it." Amera suggested, looking at Reed in the cocoon.

"Not a bad idea, let's give it a try, Susan." Reed directed her, and Susan stepped into the metal chamber. Herbie automatically locked the doors of the metal chamber.

"Ready to go, Doctor Richards!" Herbie chimed. Susan heard Herbie as well and made a force field, expanding it until it touched the walls of the chamber. She then expanded it more, pushing the sides of the chamber until they started to creak. Then, she expanded it rapidly, literally exploding the chamber open. The door flew off it hinges and across the room, hitting the wall opposite her.

"I think that'll do." Susan smiled, stepping out of the remaining bottom half of the chamber. Reed had already tested his own dexterity under his own supervision, so Amera was the last one to test.

"Ok Amera, you're up." Reed announced, then let go of the intercom button. Amera walked into the middle of the lab floor, ready for her testing.

"So what am I going to do? Try to confuse Herbie again?" Amera joked, which triggered a strange noise from Herbie. Then, without warning; Ben, Susan and Johnny left her on the lab floor alone, and climbed the stairs to the protective cocoon. Amera gaped at them as they left her standing alone.

"Come on guys! I don't even have a violent ability." Amera shouted at them and they all responded with a shrug. Amera sighed and stood in the middle of the lab floor by herself, looking at the cocoon. As soon as the three of them entered the cocoon, Reed turned around to greet them.

"I'm glad you took my advice. I've been doing some research on Amera, and what I found is most surprising. She was almost in the spaceship when the radiation hit, but Ben was right behind her, which I think caused the results I'm seeing. Ben got the full force of the blast, which changed his DNA immediately, and we got a lesser dose inside the ship, which means our…powers might increase with time. However, she got an amount of radiation which has caused her DNA to be the most in flux out of all of us…" Reed explained, and the rest nodded. Amera stood on the lab floor, looking at the cocoon curiously. She couldn't hear them, but she could see the conversation was intense just by the look on all of their faces. They were all listening to Reed and looking at him in awe.

"…I don't know if, or when her powers will ever stop developing. Right now, she has just one power, but don't try to set her off. If she develops a new power in a violent situation, the effects could be disastrous." Reed finished off, and they all stood in shock. Johnny tried to keep his mouth from falling open from shock. He almost made her snap at him a few days before; he didn't want to imagine what she could've done. Reed turned to face Amera on the lab floor, pressing the intercom button.

"Alright Amera, let's see what you can do."

An old computer came down from the ceiling, set up on a board and suspended from cables.

"What do you expect me to do with this?" Amera frowned, turning her head sideways.

"Well, let's see what you _can_ do with it." Reed answered through the intercom. Amera shrugged and found the power button. As soon as her finger pushed the power button in, she felt a surge of something in her body. She suddenly knew what was on the computer, every single file that was stored on it, even the deleted ones. She snapped her hand away and the surge stopped.

"What happened?" Susan asked through the intercom; rather concerned as it looked like it shocked her.

"Well, it was quite interesting, considering it isn't even plugged in, Reed…" She looked at Reed and frowned. He laughed a little and spoke back to her.

"Ok, you caught me. But what happened?" Reed asked her again.

"I got this weird feeling. It's hard to describe. It's feels like adrenaline, but I could _feel_ something else, like I was reading the data off the hard drive. I also know what's on the hard drive; plans from Area 51, details from the Gulf War, and some other military things that should probably not be disclosed."

Reed smiled in triumph, and the others looked at him curiously.

"Well, she's right. Some of the military things shouldn't be disclosed." Reed shrugged.

"But you still decided to give her _that_ computer?" Susan almost shouted at him. Reed couldn't help but smile at Susan as she fumed at him. He pressed the intercom button again and spoke to Amera.

"Ok, try on Herbie this time."

Herbie projected a screen in front of her, and she looked up at Reed.

"Ok, I understand the old computer, because I actually _touched_ it. But the last time with Herbie was a fluke; I don't understand how I can read data off of projected light."

The four pairs of eyes in the cocoon were suddenly set on her.

"Ok, I'll try." She answered, lifting her hand to touch the screen. As her hand touched the light, the data flowed through her like blood. The data that she could see and feel was so much more vivid the old computer; she thought it might've been the programming code. It was like she was in a 3d movie of pure data. She snapped her hand away, swearing loudly, and then the system went offline again. They stood in the dark for a few moments before the lights came back on.

"What just happened?" Johnny asked, sounding rather confused. Three pairs of eyes turned to look at him, and suddenly his face started getting hotter.

"I just wanted to know…" He mumbled again. Amera didn't hear any of the conversation happening in the cocoon, as the intercom was still off. She stood with her mouth open, her hand still in the air and slightly sore from the shock.

"So that's why the new suits can change with our powers…" Amera wondered out loud. Reed swallowed hard and hit the intercom button.

"What exactly did you see, Amera?"

"I saw everything! Let's do it again! That was _awesome_!"

Reed slapped his forehead in afterthought. She'd probably just seen all the classified files about all the secret experimenting he did.

"Well, I guess that's what you get for letting her read the data off that military computer…" Susan joked, slapping Reed on the shoulder. Reed just laughed and pressed the intercom button so Amera could hear as well.

"Ok, let's call it day. We'll carry on tomorrow."


	14. Chapter 14

Johnny and Amera headed down into the kitchen, and Johnny sat at the counter, expecting her to make dinner for him again. Reed, Ben and Susan were still in the lab analysing the day's results, and they told them not to worry about dinner for the three of them. Amera walked around the kitchen, gathering the ingredients she wanted for dinner. As she came out the pantry, she set her eyes on Johnny sitting at the counter watching.

"Nah uh, mister. You're helping with dinner tonight. Come cut some vegetables." Amera ordered him, but light-heartedly enough that he wouldn't get angry. He laughed softly and got up, heading to the counter where she'd laid out all the vegetables. Amera put out some pita bases on plates, and told Johnny what to do.

"So just chop up those veggies, and sprinkle them evenly between the two bases."

Johnny nodded in compliance, and Amera went about spicing and cooking some chicken strips. As Johnny started putting on the diced vegetables, Amera started talking to him casually.

"So, you hit 5500ºC in that chamber. That's about the temperature of the sun…"

"Wow that hot, huh?" Johnny bragged modestly.

"Yeah Johnny, _that_ hot."

Johnny nodded and put the last of the vegetables on the pita bases. Amera then added the chicken strips and wrapped them up and took them over to the counter; she and Johnny sat down at the counter and started eating. Once again, the only sound to be heard was Johnny's massive gulps of food. After he was done, he sat back with a smile on his face.

"Thanks, Amera."

"Thanks for helping, Johnny." She looked at him and smiled.

"So…you didn't tell me exactly what your power is. It's kinda…weird." Johnny asked, trying his best to hide his curiosity. Amera sat in thought for a few moments thinking about how to answer Johnny.

"Well, Reed and I are calling it 'technopathic' abilities for now. It's like I can communicate with technology. I can read, send and change the data, switch things on and off, program them…stuff like that."

Johnny nodded with a smile, but he was thinking what other powers she could possibly develop, if any, and how violent or non-violent they may be.

"So what happened when you pulled your hand away from Herbie so quick? I think I heard you swear at Herbie." He asked again.

"He shocked me…I think it was on purpose."

Johnny tried to hide the worry on his face by asking another question.

"Why would Herbie do that? I mean, he knows who you are."

"Well, I'm not supposed to be able to get into the system. So, he tried to get rid of me, like he would a normal virus." Amera sighed, hoping Johnny understood her seemingly difficult explanation. Johnny frowned at her for a moment, seemingly deep in thought.

"So, why don't you let Herbie…download you, like a program?" He eventually spat out. Amera's mouth fell open from the shock of Johnny saying something incredibly smart.

"Wow, so you _aren't_ just a pretty face. Why the hell didn't Reed think of that? I'm impressed, Johnny, it might even work."

Johnny smiled as wide as what his face would allow it to go. He thought that was a good feeling; getting Amera to be impressed a little by him. Amera's cellphone started ringing, distracting Johnny for a moment from his thoughts. She answered her phone without hesitation.

"Hello."

Johnny could hear a distinct voice on the other side; he just couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Already? Why so early, I haven't arranged for anything…" Amera started, but the voice cut her off.

"Oh, you can deliver…address…" Amera sat still, slightly stumped as to the address of the building. Johnny reached across the counter and ripped the phone away from her ear, taking over her conversation.

"Baxter Building…we'll be in the lobby. See you in a few." He hung up and handed Amera's phone back to her. Amera smiled, taking her phone back from Johnny and putting it in her pocket.

"I suppose everyone in New York knows the Baxter Building then?" Amera asked Johnny with a smirk.

"Well, yeah. It's like the Empire State Building. It's sort of well known."

Amera laughed, and Johnny couldn't help but smile. Her happiness was kind of contagious, and he could now see why.

"Come on, let's head down to lobby. They said they'd be here in a few minutes." Johnny said, standing up and gesturing for her to follow. Amera got up and followed Johnny to the elevator.


	15. Chapter 15

Johnny and Amera stood in the lobby waiting for the delivery of her things. Amera signed for her things as soon as the delivery men walked in the door. She pointed them to the elevator, and they loaded her boxes in. When they arrived at the loft, they stacked her boxes in the hallway and bid them goodnight. There were six big boxes and three smaller ones, stacked neatly in front of them. Johnny and Amera each grabbed a small box and headed in the direction of her room. Johnny and Amera's rooms were right next to one another; he didn't like it at first, but he got used to the idea over the past week.

"Now I have one condition, seen as though you're staying for so long…" Johnny started. Amera looked over her shoulder at him and nodded for him to carry on.

"…no sneaking into my room, since you fiddle with all the techno stuff."

Amera laughed at him and carried on walking.

"Oh please Johnny, if anything, you'd be the one sneaking into _my_ room. Put itching powder in my bed, trick-stitch my clothes or who knows what else…"

"Well I wasn't going to, but seen as though you mentioned it…" Johnny laughed with her. Amera put her finger on her entry scanner and her sliding metal door opened. The lights came on automatically, showing how stark-white her room was; the only exception was the beige carpet and her black computer.

"Wow, you sure got the brightest room." Johnny stated.

"Well, the brightest room for the brightest star…" Amera smiled and fluttered her eyes playfully. They put the boxes inside her room and went back for the others. They saw Reed, Ben and Susan huddled around her boxes, looking at them curiously.

"Isn't this a bit early? Your stuff wasn't supposed to arrive for another two days." Reed asked.

"I know, but they said they got it on an earlier shipment, so here it is." Amera shrugged, looking at the boxes. Susan picked up the last small box, Ben took three of the larger ones and Reed took one large box.

"Hey Ben, remember it's the room right next to Johnny's!" Amera called blindly down the hallway after Ben, Reed and Susan as they took her boxes to her room. They then heard Ben mumble angrily back at her.

"That's going to get him every time!" Amera joked with Johnny, making them both laugh. They grabbed the last two boxes and headed back to her room, seeing her boxes stacked neatly inside the door.

"Ok, well we have to head back up to the lab, so see you guys a little later." Susan announced to Johnny and Amera.

"Again? What are you guys working on?" Amera asked, genuinely curious. Susan looked at Ben and Reed, and they nodded for her to tell Amera.

"We're working on a cure…for Ben."

Amera turned to Ben, a little sadness visible on her face.

"Why would you want a cure, Ben? This could be a blessing…" Amera pleaded to him.

"This isn't a blessing, Amera. This, for me, is a curse. At least you're still pretty; imagine looking at _this_ face everyday in the mirror."

Amera straightened up, and pulled her face straight. She stopped the conversation and turned to open up her boxes. Ben turned to leave with Reed, but Susan stayed and spoke to her brother quickly.

"Help her unpack, but keep an eye on her; she's upset now…_something_ could happen." Susan told him and he nodded, knowing what Susan meant. Susan left quickly, to catch the elevator before it headed up to the lab. Johnny turned around and saw Amera tear at the first box. She stuck her hand in and pulled out a bunch of clothes, throwing them at the nearest wall. Johnny knew why she was upset, but he had to try and calm her down.

"Hey Amera, try and see it from Ben's point of view…" Johnny sounded rather surprised by himself; trying to put himself in Ben's shoes. Amera stopped throwing her clothes around for a moment, and looked back up at Johnny.

"You know last week at the bike rally, when you walked out and spoke to Ben and Susan? You were saying that maybe this happened for a reason? Well, believe it or not, even though we weren't getting along at that stage, I _knew_ what you meant and I was on _your_ side. Sure, it's not easy, and I'm pretty sure it's even worse for Ben; but we were made to adapt and that's what the five of _us_ have to do. We just jumped up in the chain of evolution…who knows…what we're…meant…uh…" Amera stopped suddenly, shaking her head a little. Johnny watched as she forced her eyes closed and rubbed one of her temples.

"Amera? Are you alright?" Johnny asked, watching her reaction. She let her hand fell back down to her side, and sat down on one of her sealed boxes.

"I…don't feel too good…kinda dizzy…"

Johnny walked over to Amera and put his hand on her shoulder, trying his best to see what was wrong with her. She looked at him, and her eyes seemed a little glazed over. She blinked slowly again, and shook her head. She closed her eyes and fell forwards, and Johnny caught her before she hit the floor. He let her down to the ground, and spoke aloud to Herbie, as there were microphones all around the house.

"Herbie, tell Reed to get back down here now!" Johnny called out. Johnny propped Amera's head up onto his leg, and listened if she was still breathing. He pulled back and looked at her; she didn't look sick at all, in fact she actually glowed a little. Reed was in the door faster than what Johnny could've imagined, and he observed Johnny holding her head up as she lay on the floor. Ben and Susan were right behind Reed, seeing Amera and Johnny on the floor.

"What happened, Johnny?" Reed asked quickly, crouching down next to him and checking Amera's vitals.

"I don't know. She was really angry after Ben left, and she was talking about the five of us…then she just started acting really weird. She said she felt dizzy and then she just passed out." Johnny replied. Ben stood at the doorway, looking very remorseful, thinking he was the cause of what had happened.

"Ben, take her up to the lab, we need to see what's happening with her." Reed ordered him. Ben scooped her up into his arms, carrying her as gently as he could. He headed to the elevator that went up to Reed's lab, and apologised to Amera all the way up.


	16. Chapter 16

"Ben, put her there…" Reed told Ben, pointing to a metal table in front of the protective cocoon. Ben put her down gently and stepped back, looking as anxious as before. Amera's body was limp; her arms fell off the sides of the table by themselves, and Susan put them back next to her body. Reed stuck a heart monitor on her finger, and watched the monitor; her heart was racing at almost three times her normal. He then grabbed a small LED torch and opened her eye, to see what her pupils were doing.

"What's happened, Reed? Are her powers changing?" Susan asked. Reed didn't answer Susan immediately because he was paying careful attention to Amera's pupils. They were contracting and dilating so quickly that it looked like she was having a seizure. He thought he might know what was going on.

"Ben, where are Amera's records of the radiation experiments?" Reed asked.

"I think she put them on the computer in her room." Ben asked without blinking away from his little cousin.

"Herbie, get me those files. I need to see what she did in her experiment."

Herbie seemed to know that Reed was going ask, and the files popped up on projection screens near him. Reed selected the one file labelled obviously named as 'Radiation Experiment'. There were numerous table and graphs and tons of data that made no sense.

"She's a clever one. Herbie, decrypt these files for me." Reed told Herbie. Herbie took about ten seconds to decrypt the file, and then it all made perfect sense. She had put every conceivable metallic element in her data pod, and a few other mysterious things.

"The elements? Why in the world would she do something like that?" Reed mumbled to himself. Susan overheard his mumbling and walked over to him, peering over his shoulder at the projection screen.

"The elements? As in the table of elements or the four elements?" Susan asked curiously.

"The six elements, actually. She used burning magnesium for light, and then various metals, water, air, different rock samples for earth…and burning potassium chlorate for fire." Reed answered, still looking at the screen slightly stumped. Everyone turned to look at each other, and then back to Amera. Susan thought for a little while and then looked back at Reed.

"Is she going to be able to turn into those six elements?" Susan asked again.

"Change, manipulate…what ever she wants. With her current DNA structure, that's what it looks like she's going to be able to do." Reed answered. Everyone else's faces froze, emotionless. This was by far going to be the most powerful evolutionary trait that any of them got.

"When is it going to stop? When is she going to wake up?" Ben asked.

"I don't know…it's hard to tell." Reed answered tentatively. Ben flipped and picked Reed up by the collar, stretching him out to Ben's height. Susan and Johnny were both too shocked to really react.

"Tell me that my little cuz is going to wake up, Reed!" Ben grumbled at him. Reed gulped and forced Ben's hands away from his collar.

"She'll wake up, Ben. I just don't know when."

Ben let Reed down, and he headed back to Amera's to check her vitals. Her heart rate was slowly starting to normalize again, and her pupils were no longer dilating and contracting erratically. Reed felt her eye muscles contract, which meant she was reacting to the light in her eyes. Reed let go and her eye snapped shut forcibly, before she blinked and opened her eyes by herself. She stayed flat on the table, looking up at the fuzzy faces above her.

"Hey guys, what happened?" Amera mumbled. Ben immediately picked her up in her enormous grasp and hugged her softly. He then put her back down on the table to get her bearings. She looked around and recognised the stark whiteness of the lab. Her eyes started adjusting again and everything started coming back into focus.

"I'm sorry Amera; I didn't mean to do that." Ben started, and Amera cut him off.

"Didn't mean to do what, Ben? What happened?"

Ben didn't answer her, but Reed stepped in front of her and started speaking.

"Look, Amera, there was something I didn't tell you the other day; and I'm sorry for omitting this…but your DNA is in _chaos_. What exactly was your motivation when you did _that_ independent research with your data pod?"

Amera had to sit and think for a few moments before she could answer.

"I wanted to see what the radiation would do to our earth's atmosphere and mineral elements…"

"That much I figured out; what were you planning to do with things like fire and light?" Reed asked again.

"I wanted to see what effects it would have on our primary energy resources." Amera answered again. Reed stood upright with a sigh, and started thinking of how to explain to Amera.

"Ok, I'm going to explain this as best I can. I think your technopathic abilities came from the pod's activation remote you stored in your suit; however I think you got some other abilities too _because_ of the data pod. With the direct contact of the data pod, and the remote in your suit; I think it may have transferred those elements' energy straight into your DNA. Now that you're DNA is stabilising again, I think you might be able to change into and control those elements…"

Amera stared at Reed with wide eyes. She looked as if she was either going to faint again or her eyes were about to pop out of her head.

"Oh…ok…"Amera stuttered out.


	17. Chapter 17

Reed had the team leave the loft for the day. Amera had only guessed what he was planning to do; now that something could go wrong with her unknown powers. They were sent out early in the morning, and had no idea what time they were allowed back. It had only been a day since Reed told Amera that she had a whole set of powers she didn't know about. She didn't know how they would manifest, or how powerful they might be when they did. Ben and Susan went grocery shopping; while Amera and Johnny had thought it would be alright if the went to a stunt bike rally. Susan knew what Johnny was thinking, and had warned Amera beforehand not to let Johnny step foot in the ring. Susan also warned Johnny not to let Amera get too worked up about anything, and he understood fully. Now they sat in the stands, watching one of the quarter-final rounds.

"Aw come on! You idiot! I can do better than that!" Johnny shouted, jumping out of his seat. The people around them diverted their eyes to the two of them and stared.

"Johnny, sit your butt back down!" Amera scolded him in a whisper and tugged him hard on the back of his shirt; pulling him right back down into his seat. The people around them turned back to the action and carried on watching the rally. Johnny sighed and turned to Amera.

"I could've beaten those guys…"

"Yeah, well you can prove it another day, Johnny."

Johnny turned back to look at the big screen to see who was going through to the semi-finals. Amera sighed and shook her head. They were supposed to stay as inconspicuous as possible, and she was supposed to stay as calm as possible. Amera looked over at the big screen as well; as soon as the results of the contestants had disappeared, they switched to the crowd camera. The camera scanned over the crowd slowly, making sure that every face could be clearly seen. She noticed her dusty blonde hair and Johnny's stark blonde hair flash past the camera, fast enough that no one noticed them. She was about to let out a sigh of relief when the camera flashed back to the two of them. The announcer noticed them immediately and started his commentary, entertaining the crowd.

"Isn't that Johnny Storm and Amera Sigure? Our own resident astronauts!" The announcer shouted, and a few girls automatically shouted Johnny's name. The people around them immediately turned around, throwing a million questions their way, but none stood out loud enough to be answered; except for the announcer.

"The Human Torch and the Annoying Attachment have joined the show! Come on Johnny; do us a stunt like last time."

Johnny was way past angry already to be asked to do anything. He stood up, fists balled up next to his sides. Amera felt the heat radiating from his body; she flinched away, thinking he was about to burst out into flame any moment.

"That's not her name, ok? Never use it again!" Johnny shouted in the way of the announcer's box. The people around them were already dissipating, possibly also fearing that Johnny was about to burst out in flame.

"Ooh, so what's her new name Johnny? Let's see what cool name she gets." The announcer asked curiously. Johnny started glowing white from the heat, and soon he sparked into flame, his normal clothes burnt away in seconds. Luckily, he was wearing his thermal suit underneath, a wise suggestion from Reed. The crowd was now far away from the two of them. The plastic stadium chairs around them started melting, and Amera had to stand up from her melting seat. She felt the heat of Johnny's flame, but it didn't feel like she was going to burn. She knew this stunt was going to get them in trouble.

"Flux! My name is Flux!" She said suddenly, and Johnny's flame snuffed out from the surprise.

"Flux? Does that mean she has powers?" The announcer started again, talking more to the crowd this time than them. The crowd started throwing questions at Amera, asking her to show off her powers.

"Come on, let's go." Johnny said, grabbing her hand and pulling her through the forming crowd. They ran to the nearest exit, hoping the crowd would stay behind.

"Wait are you guys dating now?" The announcer shouted at them before they exited the stadium. Outside the stadium wasn't much better. There was another crowd already, reporters and photographers by the hundreds.

"We have just received confirmation that there is, in fact, a fifth member of the team known as 'The Fantastic Four.' Wait, here they are right now…" A reporter spoke to her camera. Amera and Johnny stepped out of the exit to a flurry of flashes and questions.

"What's you superhero name?"

"What are your special powers?"

"What are you wearing?"

"Are you guys officially an item?"

Amera swallowed hard as she looked around at all the cameras and reporters. She couldn't hear much of anything they were saying. She was sure there weren't even this many reporters at the space launch. Johnny put his arm protectively around her shoulders and led her in the direction of his car. He fended off the reporters, and he started glowing hot again.

"Please, no questions!" He said loudly. But they didn't listen, and Amera began to get more and more nervous. She felt Johnny heating up considerably, and she was afraid he was going to spark alight again. Then suddenly, the reporters started backing away, and Johnny turned to look at Amera under his arm. He dropped his arm off her shoulders and stood back.

"Amera, you're glowing…" He said; his eyes open as wide as they could possibly go. She held up her hand and she was glowing with the colour of bright, burning magnesium. The crowd of reporters were now several metres away, afraid of what she might do. She had barely blinked, and she was back at the Baxter building, unaware of how she got there. She stood right outside the door in her mission suit; no reporters in sight. She looked at the TV in the lobby of the Baxter Building, which was on the live news. She saw herself on TV, and then, one second later, she was gone. Johnny flamed up and flew after her, in which ever direction she went. She stood frozen, her mouth open from shock.


	18. Chapter 18

It felt like hours before she moved again, but in reality it was probably only a minute. Johnny flew up to the Baxter Building entrance, and landed next to Amera. She still stood outside, looking at the TV in the lobby. The reporters on TV were now all going crazy, trying to find out what had happened. Johnny calmed down enough to let his flame die out before talking to her.

"And here I was thinking I'd have to explain to Susan that I lost you." Johnny tried to joke.

"What just happened? The TV didn't catch anything." Amera asked.

"Well, after the whole glowing thing, you just took off like a bolt of lightning…" Johnny tailed off after he saw Amera wasn't being amused.

"Reed and Susan are really going to grill us now. We were supposed to stay inconspicuous…" Amera sighed.

"Hey, they should understand. Those reporters _were_ annoying." Johnny answered, opening the door and leading Amera inside the lobby. They sat down in one of the lobby lounges, out of view of the street and the receptionist.

"Can I just say…the name is pretty cool. I don't think I could've even done better myself." Johnny said, in hopes of cheering her up. She looked up at him and smiled wide.

"Yeah, I guess that's one good thing that happened."

Ben and Susan pulled up to the curb in Ben's Hummer; the only car big enough to take him now. Susan barrelled out of the passenger door, and ran into the lobby. Ben headed into the underground parking garage, while Susan fretted over Johnny and Amera. She spotted them from a distance and ran to them. She looked angry and scared at the same time.

"Amera! Are you ok? We saw the news in the store…" Susan shouted from at least twenty feet away. Amera looked at Johnny and rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine, Sue, I just feel bad for…"

"Bad? Bad how? Are you feeling faint again? Dizzy?" Susan spewed out the questions. Susan put her hand to Amera's forehead and snapped it away just as fast.

"Jeez, Amera. You're literally burning up!"

Amera felt fine, but before she could say that to Susan, she was jumping down Johnny's throat.

"How daft can you be, Jonathan? Did you have to take her to a place with 30 000 people just waiting for something to happen?"

"Susan, it wasn't his fault. We thought no one would be there; it was only the quarter-finals…" Amera said, trying to calm Susan down. Susan's face then turned soft again as she spoke to Amera.

"At the rate we're going, we'll have to make a press release soon." Susan said with a soft smile. Ben then entered the lobby from the stairwell, smiling at Amera as best he could.

"Nice approach on the getaway, cuz." Ben laughed, which made Amera smile.

"Yeah, definitely a winner on that one." Amera joked back. The elevator chimed and no less than half a dozen scientists stepped out. Reed followed them out, greeting them at the door before stepping over to his team.

"Well, now we know what to expect from you, Amera." Reed stated, putting a sympathetic hand on Amera's shoulder.

"And I have done some renovations to the loft for safety reasons; looks like just in time too…" He added again, looking between Johnny and Amera.

"Safety reasons? Like Johnny setting the building on fire I presume?" Susan asked, immediately looking at Johnny with an accusatory stare.

"Well, that and a few other things. But let me show you first." Reed gestured for them to follow him, and Ben headed to the stairs. Up until now, Ben had to use the stairs as he was too heavy for the elevator cables.

"Hey Ben, you can use the elevator. We had the cables replaced as well." Reed told him from the elevator door. Ben gave a deep sigh of relief and headed to the elevator, and got in with them. The doors opened up at the loft in a few moments, but it looked exactly the same as when they left.

"I don't get it…" Johnny mumbled, tilting his head in confusion. Amera and Susan looked around carefully, trying to pick on any minor details.

"Wait; did you do what I think you did?" Amera asked.

"But I thought your research was unfinished." Susan added as quickly. Ben and Johnny both looked confused now, trying to see any changes that maybe Amera and Susan had spotted.

"Very astute, Susan and Amera. I have very recently been figuring out the final loophole in my research, and today I perfected it. What you see now is primarily made up of unstable unpaired molecules." Reed answered them both, but Ben and Johnny still looked lost in the entire conversation.

"It basically means that anything in the loft absorbs energy. That means you won't burn anything, Johnny." Amera explained in simpler terms. Ben and Johnny had a dawning look on their faces as they figured it out.

"Well, let's try it out then." Johnny smiled evilly as he flamed up. He looked around him; the carpet wasn't melting and the reception table wasn't burning. His flame died out as he realised it actually worked.

"Well, thank goodness for that…" Susan looked relieved knowing that her brother wouldn't burn down the Baxter Building.


	19. Chapter 19

Reed and Susan sat once again in the lab, not doing experiments, but rather trying to figure out a way to cure Ben. Reed and Susan were alone in the lab; while Ben, Amera and Johnny were downstairs, getting ready to head out for some dinner. Reed and Susan were wracking their brains for potential cures for Ben's powers and appearance. They stared at the screen with Ben's DNA samples, looking for something they could use.

"If only there was a way to generate a similar radiation effect, which might help." Susan mused, looking at the screen. Reed shot upright and looked at Susan, smiling widely.

"Actually, if I could generate the same radiation, it might cure Ben. But then again it could also make things worse." Reed wondered, and started typing at a speed on an available keyboard.

"But to generate something like that on earth would use masses of energy." Susan added again.

"Ah, but if I could make a relay storage, it could store enough power to generate the radiation. You're a genius, Susan!"

"But how would we know if it works? It's not like we have a test subject…"

Reed looked up at Susan, a blank expression on his face as he thought of what Susan just said.

"You wouldn't, Reed! Something could go terribly wrong!" Susan scolded him.

"He's my friend, Susan. I'm partly to blame for this entire disaster anyway; it seems only fair that I make sure it works."

Susan shook her head but helped him work out the calculations anyways. They heard Amera's voice over the intercom, clearing her throat uncomfortably.

"Hey guys, Victor is here. He wants to know if he can come up."

"Sure, he can come up." Reed answered without thinking. The elevator soon opened up on his lab floor, Amera and Victor both standing inside. Amera waved goodbye to them as she headed back down and left Victor with them in the lab.

"Ah, Reed. Still so busy-busy I see." Victor smiled, a plaster still covering the cut on his face. Reed greeted him with a handshake, and walked him back to his middle console.

"So is there anything I can help you with, Victor. We're rather busy working on…"

"Working on a cure for Ben, I presume? Well, if you'd like, I can offer my expertise in the matter." Victor added rather quickly, almost knowing what they were already working on.

"Well, thank you for the offer Victor, but Susan and I have already figured out the logistics of the matter." Reed answered without looking at Victor, seemingly trying to brush him off. Victor walked around the console, looking at what Reed was working on before changing the subject.

"So, I see you and your new little 'Fantastic Five' team are doing rather well, at my company's expense." Victor stated nonchalantly, without looking at anyone. Reed and Susan both stopped for a minute, looking up at Victor rather confused.

"At your company's expense? We're longer using Von Doom Industry's funds, Victor." Susan added rather brusquely.

"Oh, yes I know that. While your wonderful little team is gallivanting in the limelight, my company is taking the brash backhand from the _failed_ mission. How is it that the pendulum is swinging your way now, Reed?" Victor asked again, but he was visibly getting angrier.

"Victor, I'm sorry about the company, but what your stockholders have to say really doesn't have anything to do with us. We're trying to figure things out as best we can, and trying to get on with our lives."

"And I'm about to lose everything I've ever worked for in my life, Reed!" Victor shouted, and the lights flickered ominously as he let those words out. Reed and Susan both took a step back and looked at Victor as he calmed down a little to speak again.

"But not that it bothers you at all. After all, you're going to get your little girlfriend back, along with fame and riches if you carry on this way. That reminds me, Susan…you're fired." Victor added sourly before heading back to the elevator, not even greeting them before he disappeared downstairs.

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Susan asked, shaking her head.

"Well, whatever it is, it can't be good." Reed answered. Victor stepped out in the hallway below, and Ben, Amera and Johnny were about to head out.

"That was a short visit…" Amera said curiously, hiding behind a smile. Victor ignored Amera and turned directly to Ben instead, looking at him in the eyes.

"Don't expect them to fix you anytime soon. They're far too busy getting involved with each other to care about you." Victor sneered, stepping into the now open elevator and closing the doors. Ben, Amera and Johnny stood in shock as they thought about what he just said.

"Don't listen to him Ben; Reed and Susan are working as hard as they can to figure this thing out." Amera said, clutching Ben's arm sympathetically.

"I know Amera, I know." Ben answered her, but thought over what Victor had just said nonetheless.


	20. Chapter 20

Amera sat in an arranged limo heading to a charity gala being hosted by the mayor. It was being held at City Hall, and they were invited as special guests by the mayor himself. She was one of the last of the guests to arrive in the long line of limos, and the cameras were already flashing. She sat nervously in her seat as a valet came and opened her door. She wore a black cocktail dress, and apparently her low-key efforts were most certainly earning her high praise. The reporters snapped pictures, and delivered commentary to their respective cameras, but there were no questions being directed at her for once. She sighed in relief and smiled at the cameras, which all the reporters appreciated as they continued snapping away. She saw Johnny standing ahead with a tall brunette dressed in red. Amera remembered that she had a date for the evening, but he was no where to be seen. She didn't really mind if he came or not, as she wasn't planning to stay long at all. As she approached the front steps of the building, an arm linked in with hers.

"I told you I wouldn't miss it."

Amera looked up and saw her date, Will, leading her along and up the stairs. The cameras were flashing at the both of them now, and he didn't waste the chance.

"Thanks Will, I though I'd wander around alone tonight." Amera smiled up at him, and he glanced sideways at her through his long, sleek black hair.

"I wouldn't dream of letting a fellow biogenetics classmate fend for herself at one of these shindigs." He whispered to her with another smile. Amera walked through the front doors and a wonderful sight greeted her. The ballroom was bathed in soft golden light from the jewelled chandeliers, and the cocktail tables were decked with gold decorations. She was grateful now that Will had shown up, as there was a dance floor in front of the mayoral stand.

"What do you say to us opening the dance floor?" Will asked, holding his hand out courteously to her. She placed her hand in his, but shook her head.

"It's way too early, Will. Maybe a little later."

"Then how about a drink?" He offered again. Amera nodded and Will headed to the open bar to order their drinks. Johnny spotted Amera through the crowd and headed over to her, frowning at her suspiciously.

"Hey, where's the date?" Johnny asked, and Amera looked up to see him heading towards her.

"At the bar, just getting drinks. Yours?" Amera asked him in return.

"She spotted some friends, you know…doing the _girly_ thing."

Amera stifled a laugh, but ended up laughing softly in the end anyway, which made Johnny smile.

"Are you planning to stay the whole night? I'm going to bail after speeches; the _company_ isn't that great…" Johnny said, nodding the way of his date.

"Yeah, I was thinking of leaving early too." Amera swayed her head slightly.

"Well good thing I bought my car then…" Johnny smiled.

"The Shelby? Can I please drive?" Amera asked with a sweet smile. She'd been burning to drive in the new Shelby since he got it about a week prior.

"Yeah, I guess you can. But remember, the Shelby is not your flashy light trick; you have to stick to the traffic rules." Johnny joked.

"Ha, I'll stick to them when you stick to them, Johnny." Amera joked right back.

"Ok, fine, just drive carefully." Johnny smiled in defeat. Johnny's date spotted them and headed over to them, looking at Amera with a giant smile. Johnny rolled his eyes and turned to his date.

"Courtney, this is Amera. Amera, meet my date, Courtney." Johnny introduced them, and Amera held out her hand politely to shake Courtney's hand. Courtney grabbed Amera's hand excitedly and shook it.

"Wow! It's so great to like finally meet you. You're like a super role model to me. You're like so much prettier than all the news stations like make you out to be." Courtney spoke so fast, it was hard to hear everything. Amera pulled her hand gently out of her grasp and smiled back at her.

"Thanks, Courtney."

Will had gotten through the crowd and appeared at Amera's side, handing her a drink tentatively while looking at Johnny and Courtney.

"Oh, Will, this is Johnny and Courtney. I'm sure you recognize Johnny from the news…" Amera smiled at Johnny and he tried his best not to laugh. Will shook Johnny and Courtney's hands before the speeches started, so they didn't have to make feeble small talk. The crowd stood in silence for five minutes while two guest speakers and the mayor made their appeal for their charities. Amera stood as patiently as she could, while waiting for the speeches to be over so she could leave. She heard a loud voice that sounded distinctly like Ben's; she turned to look at the balcony where she heard the noise coming from. He was talking to Reed and Susan; she couldn't hear what they were saying to him, but she could almost hear every word from Ben. Ben wasn't dressed formally enough to be attending the gala, so Amera wondered what he was doing. Ben came back inside in a huff, not bothering to keep quiet from the speeches. He slammed the exit door loudly, causing the mayor to pause awkwardly in his speech.

"And lastly, enjoy yourselves!" The mayor finished and the crowd clapped in unison for him. Amera turned to face Johnny, Courtney and Will.

"Refresher drinks for anyone? I'll get them." Amera offered; her voice was far too sweet.

"Ooh that's like so nice of you. Just one of the same." Courtney answered. Amera smiled and nodded, about to head to the bar. She had no idea what Johnny's date had drunk before, but she wasn't going to get another. Courtney and Will started talking to each other, and Amera set her eyes on Johnny and nodded for him to follow her. Johnny excused himself and headed with Amera to the bar. Amera turned around with a snap and fumed.

"Oh my word, I see now what you mean by 'not so great company'…" Amera shook her head and Johnny knew what she meant.

"I was thinking of leaving right now. Still want to drive?" Johnny offered.

"Definitely. Let's go."

Johnny and Amera walked a wide circle around the crowd, hoping to avoid either of their date's eyes. They made it to the exit without being seen, and climbed down the stairs. Most of the reporters had disappeared already, so it was easy to spot the Shelby across the road.

"Wow. Didn't want the valet to touch it, did you?" Amera joked.

"How did you guess?" Johnny laughed, and they hurried across the road. Johnny threw the keys to Amera, and she caught them effortlessly. She opened the car and jumped in the driver's seat, smiling wide as she wrapped her hands around the steering wheel. Johnny got in next to her, and smiled at her sitting happily in the driver's seat.

"Careful, remember; no less reckless than I am." He ordered her.

"Yes, sir!" She smiled, sitting upright.

"Ok, well it's far too early to head home, so got any other bright ideas?" Johnny asked, leaning over to her.

"Well, there is this place I heard of; it's a diner near the pier. Wanna go?" Amera asked.

"Well, seen as though I didn't get to ask you to dance, how about we go to a place _I_ know down by the pier before getting something to eat?" Johnny smiled at her and she nodded.

"Alright, just tell me where to go sir and I'm there." Amera smiled, starting the car and pulling away from the curb side.


	21. Chapter 21

Amera and Johnny stepped out of a nightclub at around eleven that night. The crowd cheered them on as they left; half of the people yelling for them to come visit the club again and the other half begging them not to leave. They waved goodbye as they exited the door into the darkness outside. They walked up to Johnny's car standing near the pier's edge, and Amera took out the keys.

"So, now we've seen what Pier 58 is about, how about we go check out Skyrove Diner?" Amera asked, clicking the car open.

"Yes ma'am. Anything you want." Johnny nodded. They got in, and Amera started the car, pulling away from the curb at a bare walking pace.

"Hey Johnny, did you see what happened with Ben at the gala?" Amera asked, without looking at him.

"Yeah, I heard the noise. He wasn't exactly being quiet. But what he was talking about, I have no idea."

Amera nodded thinking again about the little bit she had heard. She thought she heard Ben accusing Reed and Susan of not wanting to cure him, but rather to have more time for themselves. She shook her head and forced the thought from her mind, hoping Ben didn't really listen to what Victor had said. She came to a halt outside of the Skyrove diner, switching off the car.

"Well, here we are. Amazing that I found it just from what Susan had told me." Amera said, unbuckling her seat belt.

"Well, I've been here before, so I probably would've found it anyways…" Johnny smiled at Amera and she hit him on the shoulder.

"Why didn't you say anything before we left the club? We wasted out time coming to a place that _you've_ already been."

"Hey, I'm not _that_ shallow. It's a good place to eat and I wouldn't take the chance away from you just because _I've_ been here."

Amera smiled, nudging Johnny with a closed fist again on the shoulder.

"Ah, so you _do_ have a soft spot." Amera teased him.

"Fine, I'm not all muscles and good looks. Just don't tell any other girls, ok?"

Amera smiled and nodded, climbing out the car. She and Johnny walked up to the front steps of the diner, and Amera turned around to face him before they went in.

"Just so you know, if its _girls_ you're dating, you should probably give them a little growing room, if you know what I mean…"

"Ha ha, funny Amera. But you know what I meant…" Johnny laughed at her, pushing the door open and leading her through. There were only two other patrons in the diner at that time of night, and it looked like neither of them recognised Amera or Johnny. They sat down at a booth nearest the windows overlooking the harbour. The rather elderly looking waitress came up to them, smiling rather wearily.

"Evening kids. What can I get you?" She said to the two of them. Amera quickly picked up the menu and picked something off the top of her head.

"A cheeseburger and fries. And a coke." Amera said with a smile.

"Hey, good choice, I'll have one of the same." Johnny said. The waitress nodded back at them and went to the kitchen to place their order. They sat in a rather comfortable silence before Johnny spoke again.

"Isn't amazing that we _actually_ get along now?"

Amera laughed a little as she thought about what he'd just said.

"Well, it could've been a lot worse by now if you wanted."

"No no no. I like _this_ version of Amera, just please don't kill me." Johnny laughed along with her. As their laughter died down, the waitress came back with their order and let them eat. They chewed through their food at an amazing rate, considering they hadn't eaten the entire night. When they finished their food, they sat back and watched the city lights across the harbour. Once again, Johnny had to speak to fill the silence.

"So, who's the guy?"

Amera diverted her eyes back to Johnny as she had to think for a little while about what he was talking about. Then she realized that he was talking about her date.

"Oh, Will. He's a biogenetics student at NYU. He came to Cambridge on a student exchange for one semester. We became good friends, and he's practically the only person I know in New York."

"Hey, what about the four of us?" Johnny gasped.

"Ok, practically the only _other_ person I know in New York. Now who's the girl?" Amera asked, trying to be curious about his date as well, although she wasn't remotely interested.

"I wish I could tell you, but I don't really care. She just looked hot." Johnny shrugged.

"Johnny! And I thought you said you weren't _that_ shallow!" Amera gasped in shock. They sat laughing again, in apparent giddiness. The lights flickered slightly, and then there was a total power outage. They sat in darkness for about a minute before Amera let out a gasp.

"Oh God…Johnny, we should go. I think that was from the radiation chamber Reed built." Amera stood up, still in the dark. The lights flickered back on, and Johnny saw her standing up, already fumbling through her wallet for money. She took out a hundred dollar bill and left it on the table, and then pulled Johnny from his seat. She greeted the waitress on her way out, and got into the car in hurry. Johnny didn't argue with her as she took the driver's seat again, and sped away faster than she had before. Within a few blocks of the pier, they hit deadlock traffic from the traffic lights being out. Amera fumbled furiously in her seat before getting out, and standing in the middle of all the traffic.

"I'm going so long; I'll see you when you get back." Amera said, and in a bright flash of white light, she was gone. Johnny slid over to the driver's seat and waited in traffic, the one thing he hated most. Meanwhile, Amera had landed on the Baxter Building's roof, and ran down the stairs as the elevator was taking time coming back up. She got in the emergency door of Reed's lab, and saw no one in sight, but the door of the radiation chamber was open. She knew what had happened in a split second and sat down on the floor, looking at the radiation chamber with a blank stare. The elevator chimed open, and Reed and Susan stood there, looking at Amera on the lab floor.

"Amera, what happened? Was that power outage from you?" Susan asked, immediately running up to her and hugging her tightly around the shoulders. Amera shook her head, tears already forming in her eyes. Susan knew it had to be bad if Amera was crying; as she seemed like a tough cookie to crack. Tears ran over Amera's cheeks as she looked up at Susan.

"It was Ben. Victor got to him…" Amera nodded as she hugged Susan again.


	22. Chapter 22

Amera and Reed were in the lab, doing controlled experiments. It had been exactly one week since she turned into the hyper beam that flew across New York and exactly 12 hours since Ben went missing after using the radiation chamber. Amera looked rather glum as she stood in the lab, staring at the floor.

"Hey Reed, where is everyone else today?" Amera asked, not looking away from the floor.

"They're looking for Ben, hoping to get him back here…" Reed answered without looking at her, busying himself with prepping equipment in the cocoon. Amera let out along sigh before Reed spoke to her again.

"Don't worry Amera, today we're working on _your_ testing; and Johnny and Susan will find Ben. So, are you ready to start?"

Amera nodded and stood ready, waiting for Reed's instructions. She tried to cheer herself up a little, trying not to think of Ben.

"Ok, let's start with light and then see if you can do any of the other elements."

Amera nodded and tried to think of how she became a light, and almost every time, she was either scared or angry. She took a deep breath and tried to force herself to stimulate an adrenaline reaction. Then, she was lit up; she was still a human silhouette, but just in glowing white light. She took off and around the lab and at her fastest, time seemed to almost stand still. She stopped and formed a ball of light, and bent it so a light spectrum reflected on the wall. She smiled, still as a light and forced herself to glow brighter and brighter until Reed shouted at her.

"Ok, that's pretty bright! I actually couldn't measure the candela."

"Wow, that bright? Pretty cool."

"Now comes the interesting part. We have to see if you _can_ do the other elements." Reed told her, typing some data into his computer. Amera nodded and thought of the next element she could try. She dropped to the floor as her light form, and then faded back to human.

"Well, water should be the next easy one. Then probably earth, air, metal and fire." Amera told Reed as she prepared herself.

"That's alright; just take your time." Reed said. Amera turned into a water humanoid almost effortlessly, and stood in apparent shock at the easiness. Amera held up her hand and pulled water out of the air's humidity, forming it into a ball and freezing it. She phased straight into earth element, looking almost like a marble statue. There was one single pot plant in the lab, and Amera forced it out of its pot and to float in mid air.

"Hey Reed, are you getting all this?" Amera called out.

"Yes, you're being recorded, so just carry on."

Amera nodded and phased right into air element, rendering her invisible. She must've known it as she floated around, and shuffled things around. She made a small whirlwind in the lab, sending every paper in the lab into the air. She reassembled herself in human form, and phased into metal. She had just picked titanium to phase into, but she could phase into every metallic element. She saw a spare sheet of metal lying on the ground where Reed had built the radiation chamber. She lifted it off the ground and it melted, and she reshaped into a mini space shuttle.

"Aha, a souvenir! You want to keep it, Reed?" Amera asked.

"Sure, you can just put it on my console." Reed answered. Amera lifted the little shuttle up and put on Reed's round computer console. Amera then braced herself for fire. She was lucky that she didn't have to use the testing chamber now, as the lab was now compromised of unstable unpaired molecules. She lit her hands alight and it ran up her arms and over her body. In no time, she was flamed up like Johnny. She then pushed herself hotter and hotter until Reed called her out again.

"That's hot enough, Amera. The rest of your testing will have to be 'on the job' testing. My lab can provide so much simulation. So just be ready if something ever happens." Reed instructed her and she nodded in agreement. Reed came back down to the lab floor and instructed Herbie to start picking up the paper that was strewn everywhere. A robotic arm came down from the ceiling, scanned every paper and put them back in order.

"Sorry about the papers, Reed…" Amera sighed and switched back to human.

"Don't worry about it; it's just some hard copies."

Reed typed into his computer and then turned to Amera.

"Now that we're done with the experimenting, let's download your DNA code and programme it into Herbie so he doesn't try to kill you. But, tell me where did you get the idea of doing this?" Reed asked, holding out a small glass slide. Amera took a little needle and pricked her finger, dropping the little bit of blood onto the slide.

"I don't know, I just thought it would work." Amera smiled, not wanting to say it was Johnny in case his _reputation_ got damaged. Reed put the slide into a scanner and started typing again. Herbie's voice came on suddenly; loud, clear and worried.

"Amera is allowed full access to my system? But there are…_restrictions_…" Herbie huffed, but he didn't sound as threatening as he was supposed to.

"Amera is allowed full access so you don't shock her again. Besides, I'm sure she knows when and where to stop…" Reed added, giving Amera a stern look. Amera nodded and stood silently for a few more moments before talking again.

"Hey Reed, I'm going down stairs to get something to eat. Do you want anything?"

"No, thank you. I'll be down a little later." Reed said, nodding to Amera. Amera went to the elevator and headed down. As she got out of the elevator, she could hear both Johnny and Susan's voices loudly and clearly.

"I swear Johnny, if you try anything and screw it up; you'll have me to deal with." Susan said very loudly and angrily. Amera wondered what Johnny had said that made her so upset; but she wouldn't bother to ask as she knew that siblings would always cover for one another. She touched the elevator and forced it to chime again, so thy knew she was there. It chimed as she knew it would and then she proceeded to walk to the living area. Johnny and Susan were now silent as Amera entered the room.

"Hey guys." Amera smiled at them, trying not to think of what they were just talking about.

"Hey Amera. How did the testing go?" Susan asked, as nonchalantly as possible.

"Oh, I figured out how to phase into the different elements, but I still need to practice. Reed said it would be best for me to do 'on the job' training."

"That's great Amera! Now, if you'll just excuse me, I have to go talk to Reed." Susan said and then headed to the lab elevator. Amera went into the kitchen and Johnny followed from the lounge.

"I broke your record with the fire temperature, Johnny…" Amera smirked at him as he sat down at the counter.

"Not for long. I'll take back my record." Johnny laughed. Amera went into the pantry and got some things before coming back out.

"Have you had lunch yet?" Amera asked Johnny.

"Nope, but I would like some." He smiled back at her.

"Well come on, you know the rules. You gotta help too." Amera teased him. Johnny jumped out of his seat and went into the kitchen, ready to help with whatever she asked.


	23. Chapter 23

After two days, Ben hadn't seen or spoken to anyone from the team. He wondered if he would ever see them again, especially after the way he had left them. He sat on a park bench by himself, as a normal, everyday human. Victor had helped to get the radiation chamber working, and Ben still wondered how he had gotten it right; but even after he'd gotten what he wanted, Ben still felt like a traitor.

"Hey, isn't that 'The Thing'?" Someone said, walking past Ben sitting on the bench.

"Ha! No way, that's just some dude…" Another person responded. Ben sighed from the thought. He knew that out of everyone he left behind in the team, Amera would be the angriest. She was probably the biggest reason why he didn't want to go back. He sighed once more, thinking of how he'd never be able to protect her again. Then it hit Ben; harder than the cosmic blast did. Victor had planned this all along; to get Ben away from the rest of the team because he was the strongest. Ben stood up and ran towards the street, hailing a cab to stop. He asked the driver to floor it to the Baxter Building, in hopes that they were all still alright. He had to make sure Amera was ok, that the whole team was okay; they were _his_ family. He got to the Baxter Building and ran for the elevator, hitting the button for the top floor. He stepped out into the hallway, hoping to hear some voices or something; but there was absolute silence.

"Hello…" He called down the hallway, but there was no answer. Then Herbie switched on, sounding in a bit of a panic.

"Ben! Where have you been? There is something bad happening at the moment…"

"Tell me about it, Herbie. Where is everyone?"

"That's the problem, Doctor Richards and Amera have been…taken, but Susan and Johnny have already left to go find them..."

"Let me guess, Victor got them?" Ben answered and without waiting for Herbie to respond, he got into the elevator that went up to Reed's lab. When the door opened up at the top, he could see what had happened. The giant skylight was broken, with the glass lying everywhere. Ben walked across the lab floor and to the radiation chamber, knowing what he had to do. He braced himself as he got in, switching on the controls and sealing the door. Meanwhile, at the Latvarian Embassy, Doom stood watch over his proud catch. Reed sat frozen in a restraint chair, being super-cooled by liquid nitrogen; while Amera sat in a similar restraint chair, but she was being shocked to control her wide array of powers. She tried once or twice to phase into her non-conductive earth form, but the shocks were just too constant. Victor walked over to Reed, hiding his face in a metal mask.

"So tell me, Reed…what happens when you super-cool rubber?"

Reed shifted his eyes to look at Victor, but couldn't speak through his teeth chattering.

"You won't get away with this, Victor!" Amera screamed at him, even above the surprising amount of voltage.

"Oh, you can just call me Doom now…and you'll find, little Amera, that I can get away with whatever I damn well please." Victor laughed, strolling across the room. Amera arched her head back as another bout of shocks went through her body. She couldn't think much further than the pain, which was obviously Doom's plan. The last thing she remembered was that she was in Reed's lab, reading her test results with him…and the next thing she knew she was here. Another wave of electricity hit her, making her thrash against the back of the chair.

"Ah, you see, I'm shocking the living daylights out of you to keep those wild powers under control. It's not enough to stop your heart; because I don't want that yet…but it's enough to keep you dazed." Doom laughed again, and carried on strolling over to a window.

"When your friends eventually figure out what has happened, I'll have a few surprises for them…" Doom cackled, walking over to what looked like a military-grade rocket launcher. Amera dared to look up for one second and noticed a missile attached to it.

"This one is for Johnny, it seems he's running a fever lately…" Doom laughed again. Amera looked closer and noticed that the missile had a heat seeking warning label on the side. She hoped that he wouldn't arrive, that he and Susan would be oblivious as to where they disappeared to. She screamed out once again as a stronger wave of electricity hit her. She heard glass break and then came an inevitable voice.

"Hey, don't you know how to treat a lady?" Johnny said with a proud smirk on his face. Amera looked towards where she heard the glass breaking, and saw Johnny still alight.

"Johnny! No…!" Amera shouted at him. Doom lifted his hand to press the launch button, but he froze for one moment. Amera sensed the organic metal his body was now made out of, and it was one she could control.

"Amera…that' not going to work!" Doom shouted, and the strongest bout of electricity ever hit her, almost instantly forcing her to drop her power over him. Doom hit the launch button, and Amera shouted once more.

"Get away, Johnny!" She forced out despite the high power voltage running through her. Johnny looked at the rocket, almost set to launch, and recognised the heat-seeker warning on the side. His eyes went wide as he flew back out the broken window, melting the sharp edges on the way out. The rocket launched and flew after Johnny, flying clear out of sight in the same direction as Johnny. Amera arched her neck back again as another wave of electricity hit her.

"Johnny will take care of that shortly, Victor. Let's see how you can handle me…" Susan said confidently, and knocked Doom to the ground with one well placed force field disk. Amera couldn't lift her head to see what was happening; the shocks were practically paralyzing her now. She could see Reed in her peripheral vision; still frozen in the position he was left in. Amera could barely flinch every time she heard Susan scream in pain. Then she heard the explosion over the harbour; that was the missile that had just met its target, most probably Johnny. Amera couldn't even think about it as the shocks held onto her consciousness. Then Susan stopped screaming, and Doom spoke in surprise.

"You! What are you doing here?" Doom shouted.

"It's clobberin' time." A rough voice answered. A scuffle ensued, and then shortly after there was more shattering glass. After the complete silence fell over them, Amera could think again.

"Reed! Amera! Are you ok?" Susan asked, standing almost right over them. Amera looked up, and saw her restraints being broken easily and she was lifted out of the chair by one of Susan's force fields. She could move freely again, and stood up once she was out of the chair. Susan broke Reed's restraints as well, and removed all the apparatus off of him. But she knew she couldn't move him yet, as he could break.

"Susan, are you ok?" Amera asked, walking over to her and Reed.

"I'm fine, thanks to Ben." Susan nodded with a grateful smile.

"That…that was Ben?"

Susan nodded in relief and turned back to Reed, looking worried.

"How long will he be frozen like this? We need him…" Susan asked, looking at Amera. Amera put her hand on his forearm, sensing every water molecule in his body.

"Well, not for long if I can fix this…" Amera answered. She remembered that she could freeze water in the lab, so she could possibly heat it up as well. She forced the water in his body to warm up, and in almost five seconds, Reed was defrosted. Reed stood and smiled at Amera and Susan.

"Thank you. Now that's what I mean by 'on the job' training, Amera." Reed said, heading over to the window. They could see the fight below, the one that had stopped all the traffic.

"Ok, let's get going." Susan said, and they all nodded. They all leapt out the window, barrelling towards the ground.


	24. Chapter 24

Ben was wrestling Doom on the ground, keeping his own against him; but it was obvious that Ben wouldn't be able to beat him. Reed stretched down to the ground in one fluid motion; Susan flew down to the ground on one of her force fields; and Amera dropped to the ground as a metal humanoid, leaving a gaping hole in the ground. As she climbed out, she saw Ben and Doom wrestling, but Doom was slowly gaining the upper hand. Amera decided it was time for her to jump in. Before Doom could lay his next punch into Ben, Amera ran straight at him, hitting him full on and sending him flying into the corner of a building. She smiled proudly, but he got up and dusted himself off.

"A little tin soldier? How quaint…" Doom laughed, which made Amera angry.

"Come and see what this tin soldier can do, Doom."

Doom laughed again and headed straight for her, and she froze him in place and pulled him to the ground, manipulating his metal body. As she pulled him down to the ground, he cackled louder.

"Oh come now, Amera. You know this didn't work last time…" Doom sent a bolt of electricity at her, knocking her clean off of her feet and causing her to lose power over him. Doom began pulling power from transformers and cables around him; but before he could send another bolt at her, Reed wrapped his body around Doom and began coordinating an attack.

"Here's what we're going to do…Susan, encase Doom in a force field, Amera, you can…" Before Reed could finish, a flame came flying at them through the air. Johnny landed next to Susan, a cocky smile on his face.

"Looks like Doom missed."

Everyone looked grateful that he was still alive, but there was no time for the appreciation fanfare.

"Johnny, here's what I need you to do. Once Susan has made a force field, I need you to get inside and get as hot as you can. Amera, keep Doom down and make sure the air around here doesn't get too hot. And Ben, get ready to cool him down…" Reed finished, pointing to a fire hydrant nearby. Everyone took their places and got ready for Reed to give them the go ahead. Reed sprang off of Doom, and the attack began. Susan caged him in a force field; and Amera kept him in place. Johnny flamed up and got inside the force field, and started flying around in tight circles around Doom. Soon enough the air around the bubble was starting to heat up too, and Amera had to cool it down enough to not the hurt the bystanders. Susan could barely manage her force field with the exerted pressure from Johnny's flames. Amera decided to speed up the process by making the fire swirling around Doom even hotter; but after all the exerted efforts, Amera had to phase back into human form.

"Get ready everyone…now!" Reed shouted, and the next phase of the attack took place. Johnny flew straight up and out of the force field, and Susan dropped her force field. Doom was still conscious and laughing when the fire disappeared.

"Is that the best you could've come up with, Richards? A little heat?"

"Chemistry 101 Victor; what happens when you cool super-heated metal?" Reed smiled at Ben, and he kicked off the top of the fire hydrant. Ben bent the fire hydrant towards Doom, and when the water hit him, he disappeared in a cloud of steam. The water blasted through the steam until they could no longer hear the metal sizzling. Ben clamped off the top of the fire hydrant and then Reed turned to Amera.

"Amera, if you'd please…" Reed nodded, gesturing to the steam. Amera held out her hands again and the steam dissipated in mere moments. Doom stood still, frozen as a metal statue. The team sighed in relief and the crowd cheered them on, chanting their names. Amera and Susan looked at each other, each one's nose bleeding from the exerted effort.

"Nice going, Sue…" Amera smiled.

"Not to bad yourself, Amera." Susan smiled. They laughed before hugging each other tightly.

"I was so worried about you guys. I really didn't know was he was going to do when you eventually found us." Amera said, looking rather distressed at the thought of potential disaster.

"Hey, it's ok now Amera. Thank God everything went well…thanks to Ben." Susan smiled, and turned to look at Ben. Amera turned around and ran to Ben, jumping into his enormous arms and hugging him around the neck.

"Benji! You came back…thank you for saving us…" Amera sniffed, looking on the point of crying.

"Hey, it was nothing…" Ben smiled, hugging Amera back as gently as he could. He put her back down on the ground, and Reed came to speak to her.

"I think you handled your powers well…" Reed said modestly, holding out his hand for a shake.

"Ha, get that out of here. After this, I'd say we're all practically family!" Amera smiled and hugged Reed around the neck. Reed smiled widely as she let go of him, and she nodded to him. Johnny stood to one side, looking dizzy after flying in tight circles. Amera walked up to Johnny, while Ben, Reed and Susan all made sure that the bystanders were alright. He saw Amera coming and tried to stand upright.

"Well done, Johnny." Amera smiled.

"Well done yourself. That must've taken some effort" Johnny said with a straight face. They then both broke out laughing and ended up hugging each other. Johnny pulled back, still smiling at her.

"So, you don't want to kill me anymore?" He asked.

"Are you kidding me? Who would I boss around then?" Amera laughed and they hugged again, to the cheers and applause of the bystanders.


	25. Chapter 25

The mayor arranged for the Fantastic Five to receive the keys to the City as the inaugural heroes of New York after they defeated Doom. The party was to be held on the mayor's private yacht in New York harbour. Only a few acceptable journalists were invited to report on the event and many close friends of the mayor and the Fantastic Five were attending. Amera was already running late for the arrival time, but hopefully she could make it to the wharf before departure time. She was standing in a designer's boutique, waiting to try on her dress. The designer specifically wanted to sponsor a dress for her, as she designed it with her in mind. Susan got her dress sponsored by another designer, and was most probably already on the yacht. Amera had done her hair and makeup already; and phased her nails into aluminium. She was dressed in jeans and a white vest, waiting patiently to see her dress. The designer came out, with the dress draped over her arms.

"Here it is." She smiled, handing Amera her dress. Amera gasped in surprise at how beautiful it was. It was green with beautiful diamante detail around the waist and hemline, and it was knee-length and strapless.

"Come on darling, you must put it on or you'll be late!" The designer shooed her in a fitting stall to get ready. Amera slipped off her jeans and shirt, and got into the green dress carefully. She pulled the zip up the side and looked in the mirror with a wide smile on her face. It suited her amazingly well, despite the fact that only came for a fitting once. She put on her evening shoes on went into the store again, twirling around once for the designer to see.

"I knew it would suit you, but you should really hurry now…" The designer smiled and walked her to the door.

"Thanks Vera! I'll be back for sure…" She said, grabbing her casual clothes that the assistants had put in a bag for her. She skipped quickly across the pavement to an awaiting Rolls Royce with her chauffer holding the door open. Once she was in, he closed the door and hurried to his side to drive.

"Johnny, maybe she decided not to come…" Susan said to her brother, who was standing on the gangway looking to the wharf gates for Amera's car.

"She said she'd come. She had to pick up her dress." He said to Susan without looking away from the gate. Susan shook her head at him and went into the enormous cabin to speak to their guests. Johnny saw a pair of headlights enter the gate and head straight for the boat. A black Rolls Royce Phantom pulled up alongside the docks and the door opened.

"Hey Mike, you can just leave my clothes at the reception, ok?" Amera said to her driver before she got out.

"Sure thing, Miss Sigure. Enjoy the evening."

As Amera was about to get out of the car, a hand appeared at her door. She leant forward and there stood Johnny, a wide smile on his face.

"Nice timing, Miss Sigure. We were about to leave." Johnny mocked her. Amera pouted at him and took his hand, getting out the car. As soon as both of her feet were on the ground, she looked at Johnny to see how handsome he was in a tuxedo. He tilted his head at her and smiled, looking at her up and down.

"You look…beautiful." Johnny said in all sincerity.

"Thank you Johnny, you look quite handsome too." Amera nodded at him with a smile. Johnny held out his arm for her to link into as they walked up the gangway and onto the boat. They had their photo taken as soon as they climbed onto the deck, and then the gangway was pulled back and the boat drifted away from the dock. The boat floated down the Hudson River and dropped anchor near Liberty Island, and then the official party started. The team received the keys to the city; and once the handing over ceremony was done, the champagne started flowing and the fireworks were being set off. The orchestra started playing lively music and the team had a wonderful time. Amera left the cabin for a moment, trying to get some fresh air. She stood on the starboard deck, looking at Lady Liberty staring out over the city. She could hear Reed and Susan somewhere outside as well, but she couldn't hear anything they were saying. Johnny walked up behind her, and put a drink on the railing.

"I thought you disappeared there for a moment. Crowd getting too much?" Johnny asked, sliding the drink across the railing and into her hand. She picked it up and took a sip, smiling at him.

"Ah, you remembered I like non-alcoholic drinks."

"Well, it's hard to forget that fuss you put up at Pier 58. But, you didn't answer the question, is the crowd and press bothering you?" He asked her again, sipping his own drink.

"Well, they don't _really_ bother me much, but I guess I'll have to get used to it." She nodded, and looked at the Statue of liberty again. Johnny looked up at Lady Liberty himself, and then back to Amera.

"Why the interest in the big missus here?"

"Ah, I was just wondering what she looked like when she first got to America; bright, shiny copper." Amera smiled looking back to Johnny.

"Hey, maybe one day you can move her, if you really tried." Johnny joked, pointing to Lady Liberty.

"You never know, maybe I could." Amera nodded, thinking about it for one moment. She and Johnny turned around, leaning against the railing and looking into the cabin windows.

"So what happened to that guy you went to the charity gala with? The press keeps on saying you're an 'item'. I thought you'd bring him with…" Johnny asked, without looking away from the crowd in the cabin. Amera scoffed at the thought of what he just said.

"Uh…no. He was in it for the limelight. We're still friends, but that's it. I thought you didn't listen to everything the press said…" Amera joked, nudging him on the shoulder.

"Hey, I was just curious." Johnny shrugged.

"Talking about dates, where's yours for this evening? You always come with someone new…" Amera asked, raising her eyebrows at him. Johnny looked around for a moment, and pointed out someone.

"Ah, there she is; the redhead…"

Amera looked into the cabin at the spot Johnny had pointed out. There was only one redhead in that direction, and she was flirting shamelessly with another guy at the bar.

"You mean the one at the bar…staring lovingly into that other guy's eyes? Looks like you're going home alone tonight, Johnny." Amera said, almost laughing. Johnny looked over to his date and saw what Amera meant, and cringed away.

"Oh well…win some, lose some." He shrugged. Amera looked back into the cabin at Ben and his date, Alicia, dancing in the cabin and smiled. She had only met Alicia briefly, but she knew she'd be seeing a lot more of her. Amera heard Susan squealing with joy somewhere in the front of the ship, and wondered what had happened. She and Johnny exchanged curious looks and walked to the front of the boat, to see Susan hugging Reed tightly. Susan spotted them and waved for them to come over to her. They complied with her instructions, and went up to them.

"Hey, what happened, Sue?" Amera asked cautiously. Susan smiled widely and held out her shaking left hand; Amera saw a silver band with one solitaire diamond set on top on her ring finger.

"Did Reed…propose?" Amera gasped and Susan just nodded in response. Amera hugged Susan tightly and then crossed over to Reed to hug him. Johnny followed by hugging his sister as well and shaking Reed's hand.

"I never thought…that Reed would ever budge…" Susan gasped, on the brink of tears.

"I'm happy for you Sue, you really deserve it." Amera smiled at her. Amera and Johnny headed back into the cabin to get Ben and Alicia, to tell them the good news. As Johnny and Amera led them out to the deck where Susan and Reed stood, Johnny put his arm around Amera's shoulders and pulled her closer.

"Watch this; Ben's going to blow a fuse." Johnny whispered to Amera, which made her smile. Susan looked at Johnny with an angry and shocked face; but Ben didn't take to likely to the idea of having Johnny's arm around his little cousin.

"Get your hands off of my little cuz!" Ben shouted at him, and ran at him. Johnny broke out laughing and flew off the edge of the deck, lighting up and flying into the sky. As he flew, he left a trail of fire behind him, forming a large '5' in the sky.


	26. Chapter 26

"Ok, it's my job to take you around the city for the day, get to know the place…that kind of stuff. You ready?" Johnny asked Amera sitting opposite him at the kitchen counter. She frowned at him and sat back in her chair.

"Whose idea was this?"

"Well, it was Susan's but I volunteered, seen as though everyone else is busy today." Johnny smirked. Amera sighed and nodded, remembering the others were at a press conference for the team. They were advised not to go, as there were already enough of them to explain everything that had happened with Doom over two months ago.

"I guess. Alicia invited me to go over to her studio to try some sculpting. Maybe we could go there first?" Amera shrugged, in hopes of getting Johnny to budge.

"Sculpting? Why in the world would you want to do that?" Johnny asked, now frowning at her.

"Hey, Alicia's dating my cousin; so I want to get to know her and sculpting is _her_ thing. Bedsides, I think sculpting would be fun; it's like being a kid again."

"Ok, fine. You win. But after that we go see the city."

"Alright, deal." Amera stuck her hand over the counter and shook his hand in agreement. They finished with breakfast and she got dressed, ready to head out for the day. Johnny stood outside her door waiting for her, whistling loudly. When she'd finished getting dressed, they headed down into the Baxter Building's garage and got Johnny's car.

"Would you like to drive again?" Johnny asked her, swirling the keys on his finger.

"No, it's ok. _You_ have to show _me_ the city, remember; so I can't keep taking directions from you."

"Fair enough." Johnny nodded and clicked the car open. They both got in and headed out towards Alicia's studio. They'd only both been there once, so it was at least a route that they knew. When they arrived, they went to Alicia's door and rang the entrance bell. It took her a while to answer on the intercom.

"Hello?" Alicia said over the intercom.

"Hey Alicia, its Amera. I was wondering if I could take you up on that sculpting lesson today?"

"That's great, I just sent out the last kids from my lesson. Come on in…" And the door buzzed open. Johnny and Amera went in and were greeted by Alicia walking over to them, not bothering to use her cane in the studio.

"Hey Amera! Glad you came, I was wondering how long it was going to take you to budge." She walked up to Amera and hugged her without hesitating.

"I couldn't resist any longer, I hope you don't mind that I bought Johnny with…" Amera said pointing to Johnny, but then remembered that she couldn't see her gesturing to him.

"Oh, hi Johnny…no, I don't mind at all. There should be enough clay for the both of you. Let's see what you can do." Alicia walked them over to some of the sculpting benches and got started. She put a blob of clay on each of their benches and helped them out with anything they needed. After an hour or so, Alicia cut the sculptures off the benches and put them in the kiln to cure.

"Well, that was a good first lesson. You'll have to come back in a week or so to see the finished product, but I'm pretty sure it'll be great." Alicia smiled at them. After Amera and Johnny had washed their hands and took off their aprons, they headed out again.

"Thanks again for the lesson Alicia; we'll be back for sure." Amera smiled and hugged her goodbye.

"Thanks Alicia. We'll pick them up sometime next week." Johnny waved goodbye and then shook off his forgetfulness. He shooed Amera out the door and to the car. They got in the car and he looked at her with a smile.

"Ok, _now_ it's off to see the city. First stop, Central Park and then your favourite, Lady Liberty." Johnny told her, starting the car. They explored Central Park for the good part of an hour, and got something to eat; before heading off to Liberty Island. Aboard the ferry to Liberty Island, no one really noticed them as they stood looking out over the water. Amera turned her head halfway to Johnny and smiled at him.

"So tell me, what exactly was your plan for making Ben so mad?"

Johnny stood silent for a moment as he thought about his answer, frowning to himself.

"Well, I just like to make him mad. What better way to make him mad then to touch his little cousin?" Johnny smirked, draping his arm over Amera's shoulder the same way he did the night of the party on the yacht.

"Very funny, Johnny. You were right though, he _did_ blow a fuse." Amera laughed and pushed his arm off of her shoulders. He pouted at her and turned around to lean with his back against the railing. As soon as his face turned to the crowd, some people started recognizing him, and then by association started guessing the woman was Amera. Once they got off at Liberty Island, the word had spread and people were sneaking photos of them. They toured the Statue of liberty, and once they came out, there were already reporters on the island. There was a flurry of questions, but no one got too close to them.

"Ugh, today of all days…" Amera sighed, trying to ignore the press.

"Hey, let's take the fast route out." Johnny winked at her and she smiled back at him, knowing what he meant. They both flamed up and flew of Liberty Island, heading over the harbour with Johnny leading the way. They reached an abandoned pier, and let their flames die out before they touched down on the wood. They were now in their Fantastic suits, which they wore under their clothes.

"Well, here we are. My sort of secret hideout." Johnny announced, holding out his arms proudly to the surrounding warehouses and docks.

"And _where_ are we exactly?" Amera asked, looking around for any landmarks.

"Doesn't matter. We're just gonna sit here and watch the city." Johnny said, sitting down on the edge of the pier with his legs dangling over the water. Amera followed and sat down next to him, looking out over the water and to the city on the other side.

"So tell me, what was Susan threatening you about the other day?" Amera asked without looking at Johnny. Johnny thought for a moment and then his eyes went wide when he realised what she was talking about; that she must've heard Susan shouting at him. He then shook his head and shrugged.

"Ah, nothing. I just say some things that make her angry sometimes. No biggie." Johnny answered coolly. Amera looked over at him quickly; he looked like it didn't faze him much, so he must've been telling the truth.

"But tell me, what are you going to do about school? Are you going back to England or what?" Johnny asked her.

"I can travel the speed of light; I can go to Cambridge and back in less than a second. So I can stay here and go to Cambridge. Perfect solution." Amera answered with a smile. Johnny nodded and carried on looking out over the harbour, and then realised what time it was.

"We should probably be getting back before Susan loses her cool with me again. Better just find my car first." Johnny stood up and helped Amera to her feet. As soon as Amera was on her feet, Johnny turned around and started running down the pier.

"First one to find my car wins!" Johnny shouted, flaming up and speeding up into the air in less than a second.

"Hey! No fair, I don't know New York!" Amera flamed up and flew after him, following him back to where he left his car.


	27. Chapter 27: Two years later

Amera was heading home in the early evening. The sun was just setting and she was coming from the supermarket down the road; she was restocking the pantry after they'd been at a conference in Los Angeles for a few days. She was practically begged by Reed over her communicator to get dinner before coming back, because things were chaotic at the loft. So, amongst the packages she was carrying, she was also carrying a packet of takeout pasta and salad from her favourite Italian place. While she seemed to be overloaded with bags that looked impossible for her to carry, she helped herself out by lifting them up a little with air disks. She made it back to the Baxter Building without being bothered much, and the receptionist greeted her as she headed to the elevator. She put the groceries on the elevator floor for a moment, ready to pick them up fully with only air disks. The elevator chimed when she reached the loft, but wouldn't open till she put her hand on the scanner. The scanner made sure Amera was allowed in the loft, and then Herbie greeted her.

"Hello Amera! You might want to prepare yourself; it is quite messy in there."

"Thank you for the warning, Herbie." Amera nodded and the door opened. She lifted up all the bags with her air disks and floated them into the hallway just ahead of herself. She could hear Susan shouting at someone, but it wasn't any of the team. Ben was on the phone, as was Susan, talking to different companies about arrangements for the wedding. Ben's phone call was for the security, and Susan's was for the venue and head count. Reed sat at the dining table with Ben, trying to keep Susan calm as she shouted at the people on the other side of the line. Johnny wasn't doing much at all; just watching the daily sport report on TV. Amera tried her best to sneak to the kitchen unnoticed so she could put the groceries away, but Susan spotted her once she hung up the phone.

"Amera! Thank God you're here! I need help with some of these arrangements." Susan asked her, grabbing her arm and pulling her to the dining table. Amera floated the groceries all the way to the kitchen counter, despite having been told to sit down at the dining table.

"I need you to call the boutique and arrange our next fitting. Then call the bakery to see when we can go over for a taste testing and idea for the cake, and then I need you to make sure that…"

"Whoa, calm down Sue. I'll do it, but have you checked the list I made for you?" Amera asked, and Susan's face lit up.

"The list! I forgot about the list!" Susan looked through her diary and pulled out the list, with all the things they needed to do for the wedding.

"Ah, thank goodness you made this Amera, otherwise I'd be lost."

"Ok; I'll call the boutique, bakery and florist to make sure they're ready for us over the next few days. Let me check your diary…" Amera gestured for Susan to hand it over to her, and Susan did it immediately. For the life of her, Amera didn't know why Susan still used a pen-and-paper diary, but she wasn't going to argue.

"Let me call them and pen in the times for us." Amera stated, sitting at the table and taking out her cellphone to call all the places she had to. Luckily, she was calling them just in time, as most places would be closing by now. She hung up after about twenty minutes of phone calls, wrote the last things in Susan's dairy and held her own phone as she programmed the dates and times into her cellphone scheduler.

"Alright, you can view the flowers tomorrow, but not too late as you've still got the charity gala to go to. And then the day after, you and Reed are going for cake sampling in the morning and we'll be going for fittings in the afternoon, but I have to leave at five for the photo shoot with Johnny. It's all in your diary with the other stuff, so don't forget it." Amera said, pushing Susan's diary across the table to her. Susan sighed in relief and sat down on the chair that was already pulled out.

"I'm so thankful that you're so calm. What would I do without you?" Susan smiled at Amera and Amera smiled.

"Well, we wouldn't eat, that's for sure. I'm going to dish up dinner; you guys can just sit and relax for a little bit." Amera nodded and got up from the dining table, heading to the kitchen. She unpacked the groceries quickly and floated them into the pantry, arranging them in their appropriate places. When she came out of the pantry, Johnny was already in the kitchen opening the take out boxes and getting out some plates.

"Thanks Johnny…" Amera sighed in relief, walking up to the counter.

"I should be the one saying thanks, that's the calmest Susan has been all day." Johnny said, nodding at Susan now sitting calmly at the table talking to Ben and Reed.

"Well, she's just worried that this wedding is going to fail like the last three…" She shrugged, grabbing a pasta spoon and dishing up their chosen pastas and salads.

"Well, maybe fourth time's a charm…" Johnny joked, jumping sideways and bumping Amera on her butt, causing her to stumble.

"Hey, no butt-bumping while we're working with food. I could mess something…" Amera laughed and bumped him back. Ben sat upright and looked over at the kitchen suspiciously.

"Hey, I'm watching you matchstick." Ben frowned at Johnny and he started laughing.

"Alright big guy, just don't break anything."

Ben frowned at him again and went back to talking to Reed and Susan. Amera and Johnny stood laughing a little longer before grabbing up all the plates and walking over to the dining table.


	28. Chapter 28

Amera and Johnny had seen Ben, Alicia, Reed and Susan off to the charity gala. Amera and Johnny had opted to stay home for the night, seen as though the gala would've been the fifth one in as many weeks. They got out some chips, dip and video games to spoil themselves for the night; and then they sat on the floor in front of the flat screen in the lounge, playing a racing game. Johnny and Amera had become competing friends of note, especially in regards to video games. They were both in boxers and vests, seen as though they didn't have to dress up for anyone, laughing and eating their snacks.

"Hey, I don't know how this game works!" Amera frowned, putting her controller down in protest.

"But you can cheat with that techno thing of yours." Johnny rolled his eyes at her.

"Then what would be the point of even playing?"

Johnny sighed in defeat and put his controller down too, looking over at her.

"Ok, let's play something else. You go pick one…" Johnny nodded at the plasma cabinet, and Amera crawled over to it, opening the cupboard with the games.

"I've played this…wait, not a multiplayer…ok, this one I know." Amera answered, holding up the game for him to see.

"It's a fighting game. You really want to play that?" Johnny frowned at her.

"Yeah, then I can kick your butt, at least virtually." She laughed and put it in the game console. She crawled back to the place where she was sitting before, and Johnny laughed at her.

"You're not gonna beat me, I'm an ace at this game." He mocked her.

"Ok, fifty bucks to the winner from the loser's wallet. Deal?" She teased and held out her hand to seal the deal.

"Ok, deal, but no cheating, seen as though you have a motive for it now." He shook her hand, staring at her sternly. Amera leant over to the side table and picked up a pair of Johnny's leather gloves that he'd worn earlier and slid her hands into them.

"Satisfied? No cheating from me."

Johnny smiled at her and nodded, picking up his controller and getting ready for the challenge. They looked at each other mockingly as they selected their characters to do battle with. Less than five minutes into the game, he realized she wasn't joking when she said she knew the game. Her fingers flew across the buttons, turning out more combos than he could've imagined. Within a few more moments, Johnny's character fell flat on his back and the game shouted 'K.O'. Johnny dropped his controlled from the surprise, his mouth agape as well. Amera jumped up and did an air punch before dancing around the lounge in light of her success, not paying any attention to Johnny's moping.

"Yes! K.O! You lose!" Amera laughed. She stopped for a moment when she realised Johnny was still sulking, not being cheered up by her happy demeanour.

"Aww, come on Jonathan. It's just a game…that you owe me fifty bucks for." She smiled at him, knowing that his full name would make him listen. She took off his gloves and slapped him playfully with them.

"Hey, no full names!" Johnny said, standing up to Amera. Amera tried to keep her giggles under control as he looked down on her. She never realised how much taller he was than her until that moment; he was at least four inches taller than her. But she didn't back down, smiling wickedly at him.

"What are you going to do about it, Jonathan Lowell Spencer Storm?" She said again, mockingly using his full name and sticking her tongue out at him.

"Well, _I'll_ kick _your_ butt in real life!" He laughed and tackled her down to the ground. She laughed loudly and could hardly fight back against him through the fits of giggles. He pulled back and pinned her down by sitting on her stomach, and then started tickling her on her ribs. She broke out laughing even louder than before.

"Johnny! Stop it! I can't breathe!" She laughed, trying to catch her breath again. He pinned her arms above her head with one hand, and held the other over her ribs ready to tickle her again.

"No full names?" Johnny asked.

"No full names, I promise." She gasped in between the laughter, finally able to catch her breath. She made to sit up, but Johnny pushed her back down to the floor. She looked up at him, and it didn't look like he was going to let her go. He looked at her with a wicked smile, but she wriggled under his weight, trying to get out. He looked down on her; her eyes seemed so much bluer now that her cheeks were flushed red.

"Johnny, let me go." She laughed again, thinking it was part of his game.

"No." He said proudly, still holding her down.

"Why not?"

He leant forward a little, still sitting on her stomach so she wouldn't get away. He sank down to meet her face, holding his an inch above hers. She stopped breathing for one second as he spoke to her.

"I think I like where you are right now…"

Those words coming out of Johnny's mouth sounded like silk but also seductively sweet. She didn't know how to respond to what he'd said. He leant a little more forward until the tips of their noses touched.

"What are you going to do now, Flux?" Johnny whispered to her, his breath hot on her cheeks. Her heart was beating in her throat so hard that she was sure Johnny could feel it.

"Nothing…" She whispered back to him.

"Good, that's what I was waiting to hear…" He smiled at her, locking onto her eyes. His free hand that was used to tickle her ribs came up to her face, brushing her flushed cheeks. He pulled her face up a little to meet his, but before their lips even came close to touching, the elevator chimed open.

"$140,000 for charity. That's not bad, even if I say so myself." Susan's voice entered to hallway. Johnny shot upright and heard the voice, but in an instant Amera had dematerialised from under him and disappeared. Johnny was left sitting on his haunches, looking around curiously. Susan entered the lounge, seeing Johnny sitting on the floor looking confused.

"Hey, where's Amera?" She asked him.

"She…went to the bathroom." He gulped. They heard a door slide open and then Amera appeared back in the lounge, her cheeks no longer blushing. She saw Susan, Reed and Ben and greeted them.

"Hey guys. How was the gala?"

"Good, we got quite a bit of money for charity. How was your night?" Susan looked to Amera and tilted her head at her.

"Great. I won fifty bucks from Johnny." Amera smiled, and Ben laughed along with her, giving her a hug around her shoulders.

"Not bad! Next time though, get more." Ben joked, picking Amera up and putting her on his shoulder.

"Sure thing, Ben." She smiled and looked over at Johnny. Johnny stood up from the floor and flopped down onto the couch, looking away from everyone behind him and pouted angrily.


	29. Chapter 29

In the morning, the loft was still again. Ben had gone to check with the security company about the arrangements for the wedding, and Sue and Reed were going to test the cake samples. Johnny was alone, as far as he could tell. Usually, he and Amera made breakfast together, but he thought she must've gone with Susan and Reed. He stood in the kitchen making himself some breakfast, but for the first time in over two years, he was unable to eat anything. He tried eating cereal, but the milk curdled and evaporated, and the cereal bits charred into little balls of charcoal. He put down his bowl and spat out the burnt food in his mouth, cringing from the taste. He sat back in his chair and sighed, pushing the bowl away from him. He jumped when he heard a voice coming down the hallway, thinking he was alone at first. He recognised it quickly enough, and she wasn't exactly being quiet.

"Calm down, you idiot. Nothing happened…" Amera fumed at herself. Johnny smiled and stood up, heading towards his room again. Amera was walking down the hallway, kicking her feet angrily into the carpet.

"You fool Amera, you should've pulled out earlier…or kissed him just once…" Amera sighed in frustration at the thoughts of what she could've done the night before. As she cleared the corner heading into the living area, she saw Johnny heading straight for her. She stopped dead in her tracks as soon as he spotted her; hoping she wasn't speaking loudly enough for him to hear her.

"Morning Johnny." She said, her voice hopelessly too high.

"Morning Amera. Sleep well?" He smirked at her. He heard every word she'd said, which made him feel a little more at ease.

"I slept…well. And yourself?" She swallowed hard at her own embarrassment.

"Well enough." He nodded and walked past her, heading to his room.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Amera called after him, and he turned around as he reached his door to answer her.

"Don't bother. Can't eat right now." He said, and disappeared into his room without explaining further. Amera stood in the hallway with a blank expression before walking to the kitchen to make herself breakfast. How was she going to explain to Johnny that she didn't quite see him _that_ way before he tried to kiss her? Or even worse, that up until his sister came in; she was considering actually kissing him back. She sighed again and took her bowl of cereal over to the counter, where Johnny's bowl was still standing on the counter. She looked into the bowl, and half the cereal had been burnt black. She frowned and pushed the bowl away, trying to eat her own cereal. In the meantime, Johnny stood in his shower, letting cold water beat down on him, but it evaporated instantly. He leant his head against the wall breathing the hot steam in. He wanted to tell Amera that he was sorry about what he did the previous night; but he knew he'd be lying. He turned off the shower and let the water evaporate off of him, thinking about what he should do next. He didn't plan on doing anything with Amera last night until that _moment_; but he heard what she'd said just a few minutes ago, and he knew that she wanted to kiss him too. He smiled to himself, wrapped a towel around his waist and headed out of his room, not thinking twice about what he was doing. He walked straight to the kitchen, seeing Amera sitting at the counter with her back to him. Amera was fiddling with her spoon, bending it and straightening it in mid-air. Johnny knew she wouldn't disappear this time, and none of the others were due back for a few hours. He walked right up behind her and smiled for one moment.

"Hey Amera…"

Amera jumped a little in her chair and spun around in one fluid motion.

"Jeez Johnny, you almost…" She gasped, but then fell short of breath again when she found herself face to face with his rippled stomach. He didn't give her a chance to finish her sentence; he put his arms on either side of the counter, caging her between them.

"This time, I'm not going to let you get away…" He whispered to her, leaning in closer until his face was bare millimetres away from hers.

"This time, I'm not going to try…" She whispered back, which took him by surprise. He then lifted his arms from either side of her, and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her to her feet. He put his hands in her loose, messy hair and pulled her closer until their lips finally touched. Her lips felt like ice against his hot skin, but he enjoyed every moment. Amera put her arms around his neck, pulling him down gently to her level so she could deepen their kiss. He smiled in their kiss, and lifted her one-handed up onto the counter. Amera wrapped her legs around his towelled waist, pulling him closer to her body. His hands slid down to her hips, holding her tightly in hopes that she wouldn't slip away again. They broke their kiss for one moment, leaning their foreheads against one another and catching their breath.

"Wow, Johnny…"Amera smiled, taking a deep breath before biting her bottom lip. Johnny smiled and wrapped his arms around her lower back, pulling her closer to him.

"I knew I should've done this sooner." He smiled, putting his hand into her hair again and pulling her down for another kiss.


	30. Chapter 30

Amera lay on her stomach with her head turned to face Johnny, lying next to her on his side. He had his head propped up on one hand, while the other adventured around her back. She smiled as she felt his hot fingers drawing shapes on her back, thinking of the ridiculous things he was drawing as she felt the trails being left behind. She watched his eyes intently as his fingers slithered down her back, pushing the sheet covering most of her body aside so he could see more of her. His hot fingers glided over her butt and down her leg, and then he trailed them back up and onto her back which made her smile.

"I don't think I realized how beautiful your skin was until it was the _only_ thing I could see…" He whispered to her, which made her smile. Her skin started glowing; the brilliant white of her light form just visible under her own skin, which made Johnny bite his lip for one second. He stopped what he was doing and lifted his head, leaning over Amera. His kissed her again, lingering on her bottom lip for what felt like an eternity. He lay back down closer to Amera, keeping his head inches away from hers. They stared at each other for a while, each one on the point of saying something to the other. Amera was too afraid to say or do anything, afraid that she was maybe dreaming. Johnny's cellphone started ringing, and he reached for it behind him without looking away from Amera.

"Yeah?" He answered casually. Amera could hear an angry voice on the other side, which caused her to almost laugh.

"Uhm…about that…I don't think I'll be able to see you today…or any other day, so bye." Johnny smiled and hung up midway through the voice shouting at him. Amera started laughing, her mouth agape.

"Who was the poor soul?" She asked.

"Some girl I was supposed to have lunch with…but I got other plans…" He smiled at her and leant over to kiss her on the shoulder. Amera gasped at him and pushed his head back so she could look at him.

"You could've told her in person." Amera said.

"Why would I want to do that when I could spend the day with you…in my bed…naked…?" He smiled devilishly and kissed her on her shoulder again, but started going further down her back. A moan escaped her lips as he reached the small of her back, but he wouldn't grant her more than that; he licked the small of her back which made her start laughing instead.

"Johnny! Why do you always make me laugh? It makes my face go so red." She asked, rolling over onto her back and pulling the sheet over her body so he wouldn't lick her again or see her red face. He pulled the sheet out of her grasp and slid it over her body at an agonisingly slow pace, kissing her ribs as he came back up.

"I love when you laugh…" He answered simply, kissing her softly on her collarbone. She let a moan out again, but Johnny didn't stop this time; instead he kissed her collarbone again and sucked it until she could feel stinging on her skin.

"Hey…that's going to leave a mark…" She whispered to him. His hand started gliding down her side and towards her hip; he pulled away for one second to look at her again.

"That's the idea…" He whispered back, kissing her again on the lips. His hand ventured around her hip and towards her belly button, then started making its way down her body. She smiled in their kiss, waiting for him to do something blissful. She was at the point of getting lost in the heat from Johnny's body, when she heard familiar voices.

"Well, luckily they ordered the suit again or Ben would have to go in his sweats…" Susan joked, which promptly made Ben and Reed laugh. Johnny pulled back from Amera for one second and then she disappeared from under him; he fell to the bed with a soft thud. She reappeared in her clothes that were scattered on the floor a few seconds earlier.

"Sorry…" She whispered to him when she saw his disappointed face. He got off his bed and picked up some of his clothes off of the floor, ready to put them on. She walked over to the door and listened where the others were; it sounded like they were in the lounge. As she was about the press the button to open the door, Johnny pinned her between the door and himself, still half-naked and smiling.

"I want you to come back…" He whispered, brushing his lips over hers.

"I will, if you don't come get me…" She smiled and sealed her lips over his one more time. She slipped out his grasp and pushed the button to open the door, slinking out into the hallway. She touched his fingerprint sensor just outside the door and it closed again, leaving him standing at the doorway. He heard Amera's voice from the other side, speaking loudly and deliberately.

"Johnny! Wake up! You've been sleeping for way too long."

Johnny smiled at the thought of what she was doing, and responded promptly.

"I'm awake! I'm just getting dressed." He said back, making sure it was loud enough for the others to hear. Amera grinned at his response and walked to the living area, seeing Ben, Reed and Susan sitting around the kitchen counter eating some lunch.

"Is he _still_ sleeping?" Susan asked as she heard Amera enter the living area.

"Well, he said _napping_, but I don't think it counts if it's for so long…" Amera laughed and sat down at the counter with them.

"We're not here for long; we just came to eat something before checking out the venue and things. Please remember that our fitting is at four, otherwise you'll never make it in time for the photo shoot." Susan said quickly, gulping down the last of her water.

"Don't worry about it Sue, I have it all here on my cell."

Susan tilted her head a little and stared hard at Amera.

"What in the world did you do to your neck?" Susan asked, frowning. Amera hid her surprise well, and then pointed to the mark on her collarbone.

"This? I was trying to clip my hair up and the pin broke, then spring shot out." Amera said calmly.

"Ouch! You're lucky it didn't hit you in the face. I hope it's gone by Saturday, or you'll be wearing _extra_ makeup."

"Don't worry Sue; I'll fix it up later with some water." Amera shrugged it off. Susan and the others stood up, ready to head out again.

"I'll see you later at the boutique, please don't be late." Susan practically begged her.

"Hey, I can travel the speed of light if need be, I won't be late."

Susan nodded with a smile and they headed back to the elevator; Ben was eyeing Amera suspiciously as she sat at the counter by herself. The elevator chimed closed and Amera stood up and got ready to head back to Johnny's room. She thanked her lucky stars that she was always a quick thinker and liar when it came down to it, although she didn't like lying to Susan or Ben. As she cleared the corner to the hallway, Johnny stood in front of her smiling. He picked her up by her waist, pinning her between the wall and himself.

"Well, aren't you a convincing liar…" He smirked, brushing some of her hair away from her face.

"It's either that or Ben kills you…" She smirked back at him.

"In that case, I'd rather you lie a little more, just so I can have you one more time." Johnny said, leaning his head toward her neck and sucking on her love bite from earlier. She gripped his hair, putting her head back as he caused an even more enjoyable pain than before.


	31. Chapter 31

Amera stood in the bathroom in the boutique, staring at herself in the mirror. She stood over the sink, contemplating what to do with the now purple love bite Johnny had given her. She had told Susan it would be gone by now, and yet it was still there. Luckily, she had hidden it on the way to the boutique with a high-collar shirt. She gritted her teeth, knowing what she had to do, but not wanting to do it. In some small little part of her mind, it was her only souvenir of what they did; proof that it had actually happened. She sighed and turned on the tap, mustering pure water into her pores around her bruise. Soon enough, the dark and damaged blood oozed from her skin, and she mustered more water the clean up the blood off of her collarbone. She watched the red water go down the drain and then looked in the mirror. The love bite was gone, with only clean peachy skin in its place. She shrugged to herself and went back into the main store. Susan was already standing in front of the triple mirrors in her wedding gown, her eyes watery.

"It's beautiful…I couldn't have asked for more." Susan said to the designer. The designer smiled in delight that Susan liked the dress, as she was one of many who proposed a design for her. An assistant came out from the back of the store, carrying a dress on a hanger. The designer took it from the assistant and handed it to Amera, a wide smile on her face.

"Here's your dress Amera, I hope you like it…"

Amera took the dress and went to try it on; she looked in the mirror in the fitting room and smiled. If Susan knew that her brother would probably rip this off of her after the wedding…a bang on the door shook her out of her daydreaming.

"And how does it fit?" The designer asked. Amera smiled at her lost thoughts and opened the door. She walked to the other set of triple mirrors opposite Susan, and stood on the podium. Susan started tearing up all over again when she saw her standing on the podium.

"Oh Amera…you look so beautiful." Susan tried to hold back her tears, but it wasn't working. Amera looked over at her and smiled. She was grateful that Susan was there for her like an older sister, Amera felt like a part of a great family; she thanked the heavens everyday that she went with on the mission. Alicia reached out for a box of tissues and followed the sounds of Susan's sobs. Susan took a tissue from Alicia, trying to force back her tears. Amera noticed that she and Alicia were both wearing the same gold material, but they were different designs.

"Alicia, you look beautiful." Amera said, trying to divert the attention away from herself.

"Thanks Amera. What cut is it? And what cut is yours?" Alicia asked, feeling for the chair she had just sat on.

"Well, yours is an a-line silhouette, there's some embroidery on the bodice and hemline. Mine is a strapless a-line, some pleating on the bodice with a buckled ribbon around my waist." Amera said, knowing that Alicia's artistic mind was picturing the design perfectly.

"Oh wow, it does sound pretty." Alicia said, smiling at the picture in her mind. Amera spun around once again before looking at the time.

"Hey Sue; I have to go for the photo shoot. I'll see you a little later." Amera said, heading back to the fitting room to get changed. Susan nodded and looked back in the mirror at her dress.

"Sure thing, Amera. I'll take the dress home."

Amera quickly got changed into her causal clothes and handed the dress to the assistant to put in a dry-cleaning bag. She greeted Susan and Alicia before heading out into the street to catch a cab. She made it to the venue, stepping into the studio just at the right time. Johnny was already on the set, being photographed while they waited for her. He was only wearing a pair of jeans, but they made him look every bit like the supermodel he deserved to be; Amera couldn't help but just pause for a minute to watch him. As soon as she entered the room, Johnny diverted his eyes from the camera and to Amera, a smile on his face. The photographer turned to see Amera, standing in the entrance.

"Am I late?" Amera said, and then a dozen people were on her. An assistant took her over the hair and makeup and sat her down in a chair, while six people fawned over her. The assistant appeared in front of her again, this time with a pair of jeans in hand.

"Miss Sigure, these will be waiting for you in dressing room two. You may leave your other clothes in the dressing room when you're done."

"Ok, thank you." Amera said, trying not to move too much for the make up artist. The assistant disappeared to the dressing rooms with the jeans. A few minutes later, Amera was done and another assistant pulled her away to take her to the dressing room. Amera slipped into the dressing room, where she was now alone. She took a deep breath and took off her casual clothes, and put on the pair of jeans. Without even thinking twice, she automatically reached for more clothing, but there wasn't any. She opened the door cautiously and the two assistants that had helped her earlier were right outside the door.

"Yes, miss Sigure?" They both chimed.

"Please, just…Amera. Isn't there any other clothes? There were just jeans in here."

"Yes, that's right. Both you and mister Storm will be _topless_ for the shoot. But here's a gown in the meantime…" One of the assistants turned around and grabbed a silk robe off of a wall hook and handed it to Amera; Amera took it and closed the door. She took off her bra and gulped, putting her bra in with her pile of clothes and slipped into the robe. Amera walked out onto the set, and suddenly it seemed that everyone person in the studio was there to see them in front of the camera. She walked onto the set where Johnny stood, fiddling with the ties of her gown. Johnny stepped up behind Amera and whispered into her ear.

"Don't be nervous…I've already seen every inch of you…" He said so softly she could barely hear him. Amera tried to hide her surprise at what he'd said; she could just stop the redness from crawling up onto her cheeks.

"Ok, studio set…whenever you're ready to disrobe, Amera…" The photographer said, clicking his fingers at the assistant to get ready to take Amera's robe. Amera fiddled with the knot on her robe furiously; she'd done many photo shoots before, but none where she had to be half naked. Her heart was beating so loudly in her ears; she couldn't hear what the photographer was saying to Johnny. Johnny stepped up behind Amera, and wrapped his arms around her; covering the appropriate places that would be bare when she removed her robe.

"Like this?" Johnny said to the photographer, and he nodded in agreement. Johnny let go of Amera and stepped back to where he was before. The photographer could see Amera was nervous, and took her behind the set to speak to her for a while.

"Amera, darling, are you alright? Did Susan not mention that you would be partially nude?" The photographer asked.

"I guess she forgot to tell me that part, but I'll be fine." Amera shrugged, and he took her by shoulder and looked at her again.

"Or is it mister Storm? There _was_ all that bad blood between you a few years ago…but you two seem friendly with each other now. Is that what's bothering you, that he's your friend that's going to be…touching you…like that…"

"Oh no, don't get me wrong, none of that bothers me at all. It's just all the people around the set…" Amera said again, and the photographer smiled at her admission.

"Ah, just the nerves. I'll fix that." The photographer said, leading Amera around the set again and in front of the camera. He then turned to the crowd and spoke to the crew.

"Everyone that shouldn't be here, get out. My assistants please set up in the spare dressing room. I don't want you scaring my stars."

The make up and dressing crew disappeared and the photographers assistants set up the computers in the dressing room. There was only one woman working the lighting and the photographer himself left on set.

"There we go; no nerves left I hope." The photographer smiled at Amera, and she nodded back. She took off her robe and threw it to the ground just off the set. Her hands quickly wrapped around her bare chest, and the photographer nodded.

"Ok, we already had the walkthrough earlier, so one more element I need to add…passion. I want to see raw passion, if one of you happens to light up or something, even better. Just improvise, and I'll take the photo when I see it." The photographer said, stationing himself behind his camera. Johnny stepped up behind Amera, and put his arms over hers.

"You have to move your arms Amera…don't be nervous…" Johnny whispered into her ear again, but this time she couldn't stop her blush from coming up. She moved her arms away from her chest, and his arms took their place, cradling her body tightly. Johnny pushed her hair away from her neck and placed a hot kiss on her jaw, causing her to put her hand on the back of his head. They heard the camera click, and the photographer looked at them.

"You two are great! You're naturals at this."

Johnny didn't stop for one moment, and the photographer quickly got back behind his camera and carried on taking pictures. Johnny placed kisses along her neck and back up to her ear, where he whispered to her again.

"Next time we're alone…we're going to take _this_ a little further."

The camera clicked numerous times again and again, but every time it did, Johnny would whisper something else to Amera to make her melt in his hands.


	32. Chapter 32

Amera was lying on Johnny's chest, listening to his heart beat. If she stayed still long enough, just listening to it, she could've probably fallen asleep. She closed her eyes for a moment, listening to his breathing and heart beat, keeping perfect time with each other. His fingers found their way into her messy hair, and she tilted her head automatically for another kiss. He let his tongue glide across her top lip before sliding into her awaiting mouth. She closed her eyes as the ecstasy of his kiss fell over her. He pulled away for one moment; his hot breath on her skin made her open her eyes.

"How did I get so lucky? How did this even happen?" He asked himself rhetorically, but Amera put her head up and looked him in the eyes.

"You know, two years ago, we would've laughed _this_ whole idea off…" She answered him. He smiled back at her, and let the arm that was cradling her caress her back. The feeling of his hot fingers sweeping across her skin sent tingles down her spine.

"If I had my way, I would've tried _this_ two years ago…" He smiled back down at her. Her head started working, and then she realised what Johnny was talking about.

"Wait, are you talking about that time when Susan was threatening you about screwing something up?" Amera asked, frowning at him.

"Something like that. She warned me not to try anything with you, or she'd kill me." He shrugged, which made Amera laugh.

"I asked you about that on the pier, why didn't you tell me?" Amera pouted at him and he smiled.

"Even if I did, I still had my warning from Susan." He smiled down at her, running his fingers across her pouting mouth, trying to make her smile. Amera gave in and smiled back at him.

"And you think she's not going to try now? She didn't give a time line for that warning, did she?"

"Well, it's a bit late now either way, don't you think?" Johnny laughed, placing a kiss on the tip of her nose. Amera smiled and curled up tighter to his chest. They lay for a few more moments in silence before Amera put her head up again to look at Johnny.

"So who are you taking to the wedding?" Amera asked; a curious smile on her face.

"Why should I take anyone? You're going to be my bridesmaid, and I'm obligated to spend the day with you." Johnny smiled at her; Amera hit him softly on the chest and laughed.

"Come on, Johnny. You have to take someone; you took a date to all the other weddings. Susan is going to know something's up."

"Ok, I'll take that other girl…." Johnny sighed in defeat, but smiled at Amera nonetheless. Amera shuffled a little out of his grasp, and leant on his stomach to look at his face.

"I'd let you see my dress for tomorrow, but Susan won't let me have it till then." Amera sulked, and Johnny placed a kiss on her lips.

"Hey, I'll be taking it off later anyways, so it doesn't matter." He smiled, expecting Amera to hit him for the perverted comment. Instead, Amera sat up and climbed onto his stomach, wrapping herself up in the sheet.

"You mean…something like this?" Amera asked, peeling the sheet away slowly and letting it settle on her legs. Johnny bit his lip as he watched Amera expose herself so magnificently to him. He pushed the sheet aside and pulled her down by her hips so their faces met once again.

"Well…something like that." He said slowly. Amera budged first, kissing his bottom lip before sliding her tongue into his mouth. He closed his eyes for a moment, gliding his hands over her back and clasping his hands on her butt, pulling her closer to his body. As they started heating up again, Amera snapped her head away and looked at the door. Before Johnny could say anything to her, she dissolved in his arms. Her clothes rustled on the floor, and soon enough she reassembled herself fully dressed.

"Sorry, that's Susan." Amera whispered to him. He lay back down, putting his arms behind his head and then smiled at her. Amera snuck out of his room, and into the living area without any commentary.

"Hey Susan, did you sort out the problem with those few flowers?" Amera said to Susan; and Johnny knew the prolonged pause meant that Susan was eyeing here suspiciously.

"Yeah, it wasn't anything bad; they just couldn't get the amount I wanted. We'll just substitute with something else." Susan answered.

"And the security? How is that going?" Amera asked again.

"Ben is handling that well enough; I just hope the reporters don't use helicopters."

Amera and Susan spoke for a while longer, and Johnny lay in bed smiling. If Susan knew what he'd done with Amera, she'd be fuming; but that added more appeal to the whole chase for him. He climbed out of bed, pulling on his Fantastic suit. He tried to stop himself from smiling before he went to the living area as well. Amera and Susan were sitting on the couch, chatting about the wedding. Amera smiled when she saw Johnny in his suit, but luckily Susan had turned around just in time to miss it.

"Where are you going, Johnny?" Susan asked. Johnny tilted his head, thinking about what he was supposed to do.

"Going scouting for Reed's bachelor party." He shrugged.

"You're going to throw him a bachelor party?" Susan asked, a little surprised.

"You didn't let me throw him a party the first three times, so maybe it's about time he got one…" Johnny smiled, heading out onto the balcony and flaming up before flying away in seconds. Susan sat with her mouth agape, and Amera turned to her with a smile.

"How about you get a bachelorette's party, Sue?" Amera smiled smugly, and Susan cracked a wide smile.


	33. Chapter 33

"Alright ladies…here's our guest of honour for this evening, the soon-to-be Mrs. Fantastic…Susan Storm!" Amera stood on the stage, and shouted into a microphone. The bachelorette party was already in full swing, and all of their guests went wild when Susan came up onto stage. Amera led Susan over to a pole on the stage, and stood her next to it.

"Now, as is customary in New York City…or so I'm told…you have to earn your gifts for this evening by doing an astounding pole dance…" Amera said into the microphone, and the crowd cheered Susan on.

"I've never heard of that! Who came up with this idea?" Susan frowned, looking into the crowd. She spotted Alicia sitting at a table with a wide smile on her face, shrugging.

"Alicia! How could you do this to me?" Susan gasped in mock surprise.

"Hey, I thought it would be a good idea." Alicia laughed, still smiling in their general direction. Susan took the microphone from Amera and spoke to the crowd.

"Ok, how about I strike a deal. If six more ladies join Amera and me on stage for this pole dance, I'll buy a round of drinks for everyone."

The crowd cheered for Susan and slowly but surely six women came up onto the stage with them. The music started and Amera stood back, hoping to slip under Susan's radar. Susan saw her standing back behind the curtain, and pulled her out and onto centre stage with her.

"Hey, you agreed to this sneaky plan of Alicia's, this is punishment." Susan joked, and put Amera by the second pole on the stage. The six women had already started dancing to the music, so it was left to Susan and Amera to start with the pole dancing. Amera held onto her pole, and swung around once, and the crowd cheered her on. She swung around once more, this time going lower with each spin, and the crowd loved it. Susan was about to climb onto her pole, when a waiter called to her from the floor. He spoke to her quickly and Susan jumped off of the stage, to many taunts from the crowd. Amera followed Susan off the stage, to even more mockery from the crowd. They headed to the entrance, to see about half a dozen military personnel waiting for them. Susan seemed to recognize one of them.

"General…may I help you?" Susan asked, and Amera could help but speak to Susan.

"Sorry Sue, but who is this?"

"This is General Hager. He came to see us when you were at the photo shoot, about building an atmospheric anomaly detector, but Reed turned him down. So what can I do for you this evening, General?" Susan asked, and the General talked softly to Susan.

"I was hoping to change Reed's mind. We _need_ his help on the matter."

Susan turned exasperated to Amera, and spoke to her instead.

"Do you know where they went? Johnny didn't mention anything to me."

"He did mention a name, but I haven't heard of it before. I could find directions…" Amera said, and the General stopped her halfway.

"We'll find the place, just give us the name."

"It's 'Top Walker'. As far as I know it's in…" Amera started again, but the General cut her off once more.

"We'll find it. If you'd please come with us, we can get going." The General showed them out. Susan didn't seem to hesitate as she walked with the General, and Amera followed. They got into a Humvee and the captain in the driver seat drove to their selected destination. They arrived at the club after half an hour of wordless driving, and got out at the club. The line must've gone around the block, and the people were whispering that some of the Fantastic Five were inside. The bouncer hesitated to let the other personnel in, but once he saw the General, Susan and Amera, he let them right in. They didn't need to look for long, as they saw Reed on the dance floor with two ladies, using his stretching abilities to take over the dance floor. Soon after they had entered the club, Johnny and Ben spotted Amera, Susan and the General; and were then trying to stop Reed from acting outrageous. Johnny walked over to Amera, and spoke to her softly so no one would hear.

"What the hell is this about? When did Reed get involved with the military?"

"I don't know. Apparently they came to see Reed a few days ago about something; they want to see if he'll change his answer."

Reed had stepped off the dance floor, visibly embarrassed by his whole demeanour, and spoke to the General.

"Sorry, General Hager. Is this urgent or can this wait until tomorrow?" Reed asked.

"This is an urgent matter, may we talk somewhere else?" General Hager answered, pointing to silver swinging doors across the club. The team went with the General, into an empty kitchen in the back. The kitchen was cleared out by two soldiers ahead of time for them. The team stood in silence as General Hager explained his reason for the sudden meeting.

"These weather anomalies that have been happening around the world, they coincide with the appearance of a rather strange entity in our atmosphere…" The General nodded to his assistant, and she handed a few photos to Reed; Susan and Amera looked at them over Reed's shoulder.

"…whenever we get a reading on his location, he's left these craters behind." General Hager added as Reed paged over to the next photo.

"And you think I'll be able to build this sensor you want…the one that will track him?" Reed asked.

"I know you can build it, that's why I came to you first…" The General answered, hoping his convincing argument would win Reed over.

"I'm flattered by your offer, General, but tomorrow is our wedding, and I won't have the time to do it. I can refer you to someone else who is as capable to handle…" Reed said.

"Thank you, Doctor Richards, but we have others in mind." The General answered, and then left, followed by his military personnel. The team was left standing in the kitchen, contemplating what the General had just requested of them.

"Wait, does that…thing have anything to do with your flight being grounded the other day? Or the snow in Egypt, or the freezing of the China Sea?" Amera asked, and Reed turned to her.

"Judging by the coincidences and timing, I'm sure it does."

"Ok, enough talk of work, I think it's about time we went home and caught up on our sleep before tomorrow." Susan said, and took Reed's arm before heading out of the kitchen. When they got outside of the club, Reed starting apologizing for his behaviour.

"About earlier, I'm sorry Sue…I was just doing what Johnny advised me to do."

"Reed, I know you. I'm glad you had fun…" Susan said without looking over at him.

"Thank you."

Susan turned to Reed on a dime and smiled jokingly at him.

"Besides, it was nothing compared to what I did at my bachelorette party Talk about wild…" Susan smirked and carried on walking, and Reed ran after her. Johnny and Amera lagged behind, when Amera stopped completely.

"Ah, damn. I forgot my car at the club…"

"We can go back and get it…" Johnny said, pointing to the club they'd just come out of.

"Not this club, the one Susan and I came from." Amera sighed. Johnny ran ahead and called Susan and Reed.

"Hey guys, Amera's car is still at the other club, we're going to go get it." Johnny said quickly, and Ben frowned down at him.

"I'm watching you, matchstick…" Ben grumbled, and Johnny laughed it off as he walked back to Amera.

"Ok, you ready?" Johnny asked and Amera flamed up, her normal clothes still perfectly intact. Johnny flamed up and they flew off, heading to the club Susan and Amera had come from. Susan and Reed watched as they flew overhead and sighed.

"Well, luckily you've charged all their clothes with unstable molecules; otherwise we'd have to buy clothes every day." Susan said, and they carried on walking to Ben's Hummer


	34. Chapter 34

"So explain to me why you had to drive to the club? Seems pretty useless since both you and Susan can fly…" Johnny asked. They were flying through the city at a reasonably slow pace, as they were in no rush to get home. Amera tumbled in mid flight, making patterns as she flew, which were bright against the night sky.

"Because Susan was blindfolded for the surprise, so she didn't know where we were going and letting her fly there would be pretty pointless. I also brought Alicia with, and in case you're forgetting…she can't fly." Amera said, and Johnny stuck his tongue out at her.

"So we're taking Alicia home first?" He asked again, and she nodded. She stopped in mid air, and hovered for a while. Johnny stopped right next to her and looked down.

"That's the club? You're the one who booked the club?" Johnny gasped at her and Amera frowned.

"I didn't realise it was such a hot commodity. We just booked the one lounge…" Amera shrugged.

"It's Absinthe! They only have one lounge…seems like you got lucky." Johnny pouted and Amera shook her head.

"Are we going to get my car or what?" Amera asked and Johnny nodded eventually. They dropped down to the pavement below, to the many cheers of people around them. Their flames switched off, and the people hanging around outside the club started cheering louder. They walked towards the bouncer, who let them in without questions and they walked through to the lounge. The ladies that Susan and Amera had left behind lit up in her presence when Amera got back.

"Where did you go?"

"You were supposed to finish that pole dance…"

"So no bridal games after all?"

Amera answered most of her and Susan's friends, walking through all the tables to get to Alicia.

"Aha, so you did remember you had to drive me home."

"Sorry Alicia, something…just came up." Amera said, pulling Alicia to her feet.

"Don't worry about it, I understand." Alicia nodded and followed Amera through the crowd, but the ladies noticed that they were leaving again.

"Aw, come on Amera, we still have so much to do." A woman closest to her shouted. Amera quickly left Alicia and went to pick up the microphone she had earlier, talking to the crowd.

"Hey ladies! Sorry to be walking out of the party, but we have to be up extra early for the wedding tomorrow. You can just leave the gifts and the bill with the barman and I'll be back to pick them up. You can party till the sun comes up; just leave the bill to me." Amera said, and the crowd of ladies went wild. They slipped away in the confusion, and made their way to her car across the street. Amera forced Johnny to sit in the back of her Camaro, and Alicia sat in front. It wasn't a long drive back to Alicia's place, and shortly they arrived outside her studio apartment. Amera left Johnny in the car and walked Alicia to her front door, seeing her safely inside. By the time Amera got back to her car, Johnny had jumped into the driver's seat and waited for her. Amera rolled her eyes and got into the passenger seat, looking over at Johnny.

"So I drove your car, so now you drive mine?" Amera asked.

"You bet. I've wanted to drive this car for months now." Johnny smiled, gliding his hands over the steering wheel.

"Fine, just be careful." Amera said, and gave him the keys. Johnny stuck the keys in the ignition and screeched away from the pavement, heading straight down the road to the Baxter Building. Once they had parked her car next to all the other cars owned by the Fantastic Five, they got out and stared at each other over the roof of her car.

"It's way too early to go to bed." Johnny said to her and she nodded. They walked back out of the underground garage, greeting the guard on their way out, before flaming up and flying away. Johnny led the way, and they arrived at the Empire State Building after a few minutes. They landed on the viewing balcony, and Amera climbed up onto the eagle gargoyle, looking out over the city.

"I must say, it is kinda beautiful when you're way up here." Amera said, and sat down on the head of the gargoyle.

"So what was that about a pole dance I heard earlier?" Johnny climbed up onto the gargoyle as well, sitting right behind her. Amera laughed and shrugged.

"Hey, it's a bachelorette party. Susan made me do it."

"I could've guessed, but I wanna see it sometime…" He smiled, and she turned her head halfway to look at him.

"Maybe…after the wedding." Amera smirked and Johnny sighed in mock disappointment. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close, letting her head rest on his shoulder. They sat in silence for a while before Amera turned her head halfway to talk to Johnny.

"Don't you feel like a naughty teenager? Out past curfew, doing mischievous things?" Amera laughed at the thought and Johnny laughed with her.

"Oh yeah, although, I can think of a lot more ways to be mischievous than just _sitting_ up here…" He smiled, and he turned his head a little more. Amera turned her head and kissed him, holding onto his arms that embraced her body. His one hand ventured away from her shoulder and down the front of her dress, brushing her cleavage with his hot fingertips. She smiled in their kiss, and dropped her head onto his shoulder so she could deepen the kiss. Johnny's hand now had more ease to reach into her dress, and he used the opportunity to feel as far as he could. She pulled away for a moment, but before she could speak, Johnny pulled her closer and whispered into her ear.

"This is just a taste of what's going to happen after the wedding…" He smiled, and brushed his hand over the top of her thigh. She shivered as he did it over and over, causing her to crumble and kiss him again.


	35. Chapter 35

"This doesn't feel right…" Susan sighed, looking out of her bridal suite window and onto the wedding venue on the rooftop below.

"Everyone gets the wedding day jitters…even superheroes; though I thought you'd be used to it already." Alicia tried to cheer Susan up with some light humour, but it wasn't working.

"Not just today, Alicia, but everyday. Is the rest of our lives going to be like this; the media circus? Do we really want to raise kids in this mess?" Susan sighed, turned away from the window and to Alicia. Alicia was looking sympathetically in her direction, trying her best to cheer her up.

"You love Reed, don't you?" Alicia said, staring in Susan's general direction.

"Of course I do."

"Then that's all that matters. Things have a way of finding their own solution." Alicia said, walking towards Susan. Susan smiled as she knew what Alicia said was true, but she couldn't help but still feel nervous. Amera then arrived at the door, a team of at least six people behind her.

"I have the makeup artists and hairdressers, so let's get started ladies." Amera said, showing the team of makeup artists and hairdressers into the room. Susan and Alicia took their seats, and Amera sat down last after she'd closed the door. In the meantime, Reed was still in his lab across the city building the sensor for the military. He knew that Susan would've been mad if he'd told her that he'd agreed to build it anyway, so he didn't tell her. Ben appeared in the lab elevator, already dressed in his tuxedo.

"Hey Reed, you're going to be late. Finish it up already." Ben shouted at him. Reed unwound his body from around the sensor and stood up, linking his PDA to the sensor.

"Ok, I'm done. Let's hope that it works." Reed said, putting his PDA in his pocket.

"Good, I'd hate to explain to Susan why you're late for own wedding." Ben started walking back to the elevator, but Reed wasn't following.

"I'm getting…married…" Reed gulped, and almost fainted. Ben caught him time and dragged him to the elevator to get him into his tuxedo.

"You think you'd be used to it already. This is the fourth time you're doing this…" Ben joked, and pressed the elevator button to go back down. When they got to the venue, Alicia automatically went to Ben to feel if his tie was straight. Johnny came into the room, and saw Alicia fixing Ben's tie and Reed standing by.

"Hello Johnny." Alicia said; Ben and Reed turned to look at Johnny.

"How do you do that? You freak me out every time." Johnny gasped.

"You do kind of smell like ash…" Alicia smiled, and Ben laughed with her.

"_Funny_…anyway, Reed, you should be downstairs. Susan is about to come out…" Johnny said, and Reed headed downstairs as quickly as he could. Amera came into the room, and smile on her face.

"Aha….and here's Amera." Alicia said once again, turning in the direction where Amera was standing.

"And what does she smell like?" Johnny asked, curious about what Alicia would say.

"Like a summer rain in the country." Alicia said, and Amera smiled at her pleasantly described smell.

"Thanks Alicia. Anyway, Susan's coming through soon, so I'll be heading downstairs." Amera said; waving to them before heading down the same stairs Reed had. Ben and Alicia followed downstairs, and Johnny waited for his sister to exit from the bridal suite. After a few more minutes of him standing in silence, the door creaked open and Susan came into the room.

"Hi Johnny." Susan smiled, and Johnny smiled back.

"Wow Susan, you look beautiful…I know mom and dad would've loved to see you get married…" Johnny said, but his face fell at the thought of his parents.

"Hey, _you're_ here for me, and that's all that matters. I love you, my obnoxious little brother." Susan said, and Johnny smiled back at her. He held out his arm for her to link into and led her downstairs. Amera, Alicia and Ben stood downstairs, waiting for Susan and Johnny. When they appeared at the foot of the stairs, they turned to look at them.

"Susan, you look beautiful…" Amera gasped, and Susan smiled with bright red spots appearing on her cheeks. Amera handed Susan her bouquet, and Susan sighed when she laid her eyes on them.

"These were supposed to be arum lilies…"

Amera quickly looked around, and set her eyes on a silver candelabrum a few feet away. Amera ran over to it, and grabbed it up.

"Well, it might not be the _genuine_ thing, but it might just work…" Amera said. As they watched, she manipulated the silver candelabrum into a bouquet of delicate silver arum lilies. She handed the new bouquet to Susan and she smiled.

"They're beautiful Amera. You've been practicing." Susan said, and Amera shrugged.

"Hey, I have Alicia to thank for the sculpting lessons…"Amera said, and before she could say anymore, the music started playing outside. Ben and Alicia paired up and headed out the frosted doors, Amera followed behind them by a few seconds. Before she left Susan and Johnny, she turned to look at them one more time.

"See you in a few seconds Sue…" Amera aimed a hopeful smile at Susan, and Johnny shooed her out the door before she missed her time.


	36. Chapter 36

Amera and Alicia were already standing at the end of the aisle, waiting for Susan. Ben stood opposite them, smiling happily at his cousin and girlfriend; which made Amera smile. The bridal march started, and the doors opened. Susan was holding her silver bouquet, being led out by Johnny. Ben and Amera watched her walking up the aisle, while Reed stared in awe.

"How does she look, Amera?" Alicia asked softly.

"She's beautiful." Amera said simply. Ben heard the conversation and smiled at Amera again. Alicia smiled to herself and stood back in place when the music stopped. Reed walked towards Johnny and shook his hand, and then Johnny removed Susan's veil and kissed her on the cheek. Johnny took his place opposite the aisle from Amera and stared at her with smouldering blue eyes; Amera could only smile back at him. Susan and Reed took their place in front of the priest, and the ceremony started. Amera heard the beginning of the sermon, but the rest faded away. Johnny still had his eyes set on her, and the longer he stared, the less she noticed of her surroundings. She tried to distract herself from his stare, and turned her head a little to see his date; staring at him like a love-sick schoolgirl. Amera looked away before she laughed; but then something else caught her attention. Herbie was sending a message to Reed, and it was an emergency as far as she could tell. Once she had programmed her DNA into Herbie, she would often catch signals from him. But this time she knew it wasn't meant for her because it was in PDA coding, but she knew what the message was. She heard a noise coming from Reed's pocket, and then he reached in and pulled out his PDA. Susan turned to Reed with her mouth open, about to snap at him.

"You didn't!" Susan scolded him in a whisper.

"Sorry, Susan, it's world safety. I don't think anyone else could've…" Reed tried to explain, and Susan snapped at him again

"This is our _wedding_!" Susan seethed, and the guests started whispering amongst themselves. Reed turned to the priest and whispered to him.

"Do you think we can skip ahead to the 'I do's'?"

"No we won't, Reed!" Susan said again, now at the point of screaming at him. Things then started happening all around, and they went from bad to worse. A helicopter appeared overhead with a camera crew inside; the wind started blowing things away and Susan became angrier. Reed's PDA started beeping furiously, and he was trying to stop it before it went static. A strange silver flash flew overhead, sending the crowd and noise into stillness. The stillness was deafening, before they realized what was happening. The helicopter's rotor blades had stopped spinning and it started falling towards the rooftop where they stood. Susan caught it in a force field, but the rotor blade had already hit the ground, and the tail was spinning towards Alicia.

"Ben, get Alicia!" Amera shouted. Ben caught the tail rotor and it him in the face, sending more debris flying though the air. Amera concentrated on metal, and everything that was metal froze in midair. Susan let the helicopter down, and Amera gathered the pieces of metal into one heap. They watched as the silver beam flew over the city, wreaking havoc as it went.

"Johnny…Amera…" Reed looked at them. Amera didn't hesitate; she disappeared in a flash of white light, leaving her dress to float down to the ground.

"Come on…I just got this suit." Johnny said.

"Johnny…" Reed said again, and Johnny sighed.

"But it's Dolce."

Reed looked at him sternly, and he shook his head as her leapt over the side of the building, flaming up and following the silver beam. He could see Amera's bright white light tailing the silver beam, but she wasn't going nearly as fast as she would have. Johnny burned hotter and flew faster, eventually catching up with them. They tailed the silver beam through a traffic tunnel, between buildings and almost of city limits. Then the silver beam slowed down long enough to for them to see what it was; it was a silver humanoid.

"Man…that is cool!" Johnny said, stopping in mid-air right next to Amera. Amera was in a shorter Fantastic suit than her normal one as to fit under dress, but Johnny hadn't noticed it until then. The silver humanoid flew through a building, and then over the ocean. Amera shook her head and took off again.

"We're going to lose him. Come on!" Amera shouted, beaming after the silver being. Johnny flew after them again, seeing how far behind he'd fallen. They were slowly climbing higher and higher, and soon enough were even nearing the next continent. Johnny wasn't able to see much other than the two lights, but soon enough one light started fading. He knew the silver humanoid wouldn't stop, so it must've been Amera giving up the chase. As he was approaching the light that was the silver humanoid, he could see why her light had faded. They were 30 000 feet above the earth, and the silver humanoid had caught Amera around her throat. She was still in her light form, but she was slowly fading back to normal. Her hands were clawing at the silver being's, in hopes that he would let go of her, but her eyes were already closing.

"Stop! Don't do anything to her!" Johnny shouted and blazed over to them. The silver humanoid diverted his attention to Johnny, and once he was close enough, he caught Johnny around the throat with his free hand. The silver humanoid dropped Amera from his other hand; and before Johnny could see where she had fallen, the humanoid started taking him higher and higher up into the atmosphere.

"Can we…talk?" Johnny choked out, hoping the silver humanoid would listen. Soon enough there was no oxygen for Johnny to burn or breathe, and his flame died out. When Johnny had started blacking out, he felt the hand ease off his throat. The next thing he knew, he saw the ground speeding up toward him, and he flamed up just in time to slow down before hitting the ground.


	37. Chapter 37

Johnny woke up buried in sand. He quickly stood up and looked around, noticing miles and miles of sand dunes. He was in a crater, about fifteen feet deep and fifty feet wide, with scraps of material lying all around him. He looked up and saw two people on the edge of the crater, shouting down at him in some foreign language. He had no idea where he was, but his head was hurting immensely. He flamed up again and flew straight into the air for a few thousand feet, trying to see where he had landed. He started replaying the events in his head; then he remembered Amera had fallen somewhere, somewhere he didn't see. He looked around and saw the Mediterranean Sea, and then flew back over the Atlantic. When he saw New York approaching, he started searching the skyline for the Baxter Building. He spotted it and landed on the balcony just outside the living area. Reed, Susan and Ben were already back, and all in their Fantastic suits.

"Hey guys!" Johnny banged on the door, and Susan ran to open it.

"Thank God you're alright! We've been trying to reach you two, but all we got was static." Susan sighed in relief, and looked behind Johnny for Amera, but she wasn't there.

"Johnny…where is Amera?" Susan asked, sounding angry and worried at once.

"I…don't know. That silver…surfer guy got her around her throat. He got me too, but he dropped her before I could see where. He practically dragged me into space and dropped me…I don't know where Amera is…I couldn't see her light when I flew back." Johnny explained erratically. Ben automatically looked angry, not at Johnny, but with the silver humanoid that got her.

"We'll find her Johnny. She should have her communicator with her, we'll track that." Reed said to them, trying his best to comfort everyone.

"Well, you tell me where to go, but I'm going right now…" Johnny said, heading back out onto the balcony, flaming up and flying off the balcony. Before he had even flown ten feet, his flame started flickering on and off, and he dropped out of the sky like a rock.

"Johnny! Johnny!" Susan shouted, running out onto the balcony and seeing him falling to the ground. She made a force field and floated down to the ground to see if her brother was alive. He lay on the ground, a little dazed but alright. He hadn't fallen nearly fast enough to cause any damage, but he was feeling a little iffy. He stood up and looked up at the balcony and then back to Susan, shaking his head.

"Johnny? What the hell happened? I've never seen that happen to you…" Susan said, touching his forehead to see if he was feeling normal. As she touched him, a spark flew between their point of contact. Susan pulled back from the surprise, but as soon as she did, flames started crawling up her hand and arm.

"Johnny! What did you do!" Susan shouted at him, seeing the flames crawling all over her body.

"I didn't do anything!" Johnny shouted back at her. Susan started lifting off the ground, and started flying. She was screaming at Johnny, but he couldn't hear anything she was saying. He tried to flame on, but went invisible instead. Susan was now at the top of the Baxter Building, where Ben and Reed still stood looking out the door. When Susan floated up past them, she screamed at them.

"I'm on fire!"

"You're on fire!" Reed said back, rather astonished.

"You _think_!" Susan shrieked at him, still floating upwards.

"Just calm down, Susan! This is like the first time you had powers, control it." Reed instructed her. Susan started calming down, and soon started floating back down to the ground. Reed and Ben ran to the elevator, taking it non-stop to the ground floor. When they ran out at the bottom, the crowd had gathered and Susan was still coming back down.

"Where the hell is Johnny? How did this happen" Reed asked, looking around.

"Right here…she just touched me, now she's on fire and I'm invisible." Johnny said while still invisible, and Reed immediately knew what had happened. Susan was now close enough to the ground for them to touch her.

"Touch her again, Johnny." Reed told him, and without even blinking, Johnny had reappeared in front of them, and Susan fell out of the air completely naked.

"Susan…invisible, quickly." Reed whispered to her. She looked down, and realised her clothes had burnt off. She went invisible in a flash and sighed.

"Why does this always happen to me?" Susan sighed. They shooed the crowd away so they could get back into the Baxter Building. They took the elevator straight back up, and stepped out in the loft.

"Alright, no one touch Johnny until we figure out what happened. But first we have to find Amera. Come with me everyone…" Reed said to them, waving them to his lab elevator. They followed, and stepped out on a floor they had never been on before.

"Where did this floor come from?" Ben asked, looking around.

"This used to be one of the floors I used for Herbie's mainframe. But I streamlined Herbie's hardware, and now the mainframe is on the floor below this one; this floor is two floors above my lab. But there's something here that I've been working on for a while…" Reed said, pointing to a large flat object covered with a white sheet.

"I present…the Fantasticar!" Reed said, pulling the sheet off in one swift movement. The team's mouths fell open at the sight of the Fantasticar; it was a mean looking machine.

"Ben, you're the pilot." Reed said, pointing to the biggest seat in the rear of the Fantasticar. Ben didn't hesitate, and climbed into the rear of the plane.

"Wait, why are there only four seats?" Susan asked, looking at the design.

"Amera said she didn't need a seat, seen as though she can travel the speed of light." Reed shrugged, and climbed into the front seat.

"Amera knew you built this?" Susan gasped and Reed nodded.

"She suggested it in the first place."

Susan shook her head in surprise and got into the Fantasticar with Johnny, and Ben piloted it out of the portal that has just opened in the side of the building.


	38. Chapter 38

They were flying over the Atlantic, searching for the last place where Johnny had seen Amera. They were nearing the edge of the Mediterranean when Herbie's voice suddenly filled the car, sounding rather enthusiastic.

"Doctor Richards! Amera's communicator just came online. I'll send you the coordinates immediately." Herbie said, and the coordinates appeared on one of the control screens as he'd finished speaking. Ben followed the flight instructions from there up to where Amera was supposed to be. They hovered over where the coordinates said she was; they saw a large crater in the ground. The crater was much bigger than Johnny had imagined, it was about a hundred feet in diameter and twenty feet deep with one small figure in the middle. Amera was still out cold, lying in the middle of the crater in her metal form.

"Johnny, you said the silver…surfer touched both you and Amera?" Reed asked. Johnny turned his head away from the crater and to Reed.

"Yeah. He was choking the life out of her…"

"Ok, Johnny, under no circumstances are you allowed to touch Amera. If something happened between you and her like what happened between you and Susan, it could be disastrous. Understood?" Reed instructed him, and he nodded helplessly. Johnny swallowed hard at the thought of not being able to touch Amera, not even once; his heart felt like it froze for one second. Ben landed the Fantasticar near the crater. They all got out and looked at Amera lying face down at the bottom of the crater.

"Susan, check if she's alright. Touch her with force fields and whatever else, but do not touch her physically. We don't know what could be happening with her. It could be even worse than Johnny." Reed instructed her, and she nodded without looking at him. Susan floated down into the centre of the crater on a force field, and landed near Amera. She could see Amera was breathing, which made her sigh in relief. Susan generated a force field in the shape of her hand, and touched Amera gently with it, trying to shake her awake.

"Amera? Can you hear me? Are you alright?" Susan said to her, hoping she could hear her. Amera stirred a little, and then opened her eyes. She saw Susan standing next to her, and she sat up and looked up at her.

"Where am I?" Amera shook her head, looking at the desert around her.

"You landed in Egypt, in the middle of nowhere; thank God we found you with the tracker in your communicator. But are you feeling alright? You don't feel…sick or anything?" Susan answered, and lifted Amera to her feet on a force field. Amera looked down and her body, and phased back into human form.

"I guess…I feel disorientated, but that's about it. Damn that silver…thing, I almost had him." Amera shook her head, and started walking toward Susan. Amera came dangerously close to Susan before she caught her in a force field and held her still for one moment.

"Wait Amera…I have to explain something to you. We discovered something that the silver…surfer has done to Johnny; we think he might've done the same to you. So for the time being, you can't touch anyone else, especially Johnny, ok?"

Amera nodded obediently, but she couldn't wrap her head around the words that Susan had just said to her. All that she heard was the Johnny was off limits for an indefinite amount of time; her heart felt like it was still metal. Susan generated another force field and took Amera and herself out of the crater, and put them both inside the Fantasticar. They all got back into to the Fantasticar and took off, heading back to New York. Amera, Susan and Johnny sat in the middle section of the Fantasticar; Susan put force fields up between the three of them so they couldn't touch each other. Amera leant forward to look past Susan and to Johnny, who looked as upset as she felt.


	39. Chapter 39

Amera, Johnny and Susan were in the lab for a little while, having tests run on them once again. Susan was cleared immediately after seeing that her molecules were stable; however, Amera and Johnny were told to wait in the kitchen while Reed analyzed their results. Amera and Johnny sat across the counter from each other, trying their best not to look as upset as they felt by the touching restrictions between them. Reed came back to them, holding a printout of their results.

"Johnny and Amera, I have bad news for the two of you. The silver surfer emits cosmic energy, much like the radiation that changed us; but by him coming into physical contact with the two of you, he's put both of your molecules into flux. Just by making contact with anyone of us, you risk swapping powers. But if the two of you make contact with each other, there could be different consequences all together. You could have an extremely violent reaction, like an atomic bomb, or you could both lose your powers. I'm sorry for having sent the two of you after him…but this is really serious…" Reed explained, and they nodded. Ben and Susan stood by, listening to Reed explaining to them so that they could also know the consequences. Ben smirked as he got and idea, and walked right up to Johnny, and touched him. A spark flew between them and Johnny jumped up from the surprise. Ben stood in front of them, the same way he looked over two years ago, but had a flame glowing on his finger tip. He smiled as he looked at his hands.

"Hey guys, check me out…I'm back!" Ben gloated, clicking his flame on and off on his finger tip.

"I'm beginning to see why you like this so much…" Ben laughed again. He then looked at Johnny, and then laughed even louder. Johnny grabbed the toaster nearby and looked at his reflection; he was now the Thing, covered in orange rock.

"Oh come on! I thought we said this is serious! This isn't the time for games, Ben." Johnny shouted at him and Ben laughed in response. Amera and Susan laughed softly in the background; trying their best not to be heard by Johnny.

"Ben this is really serious, we don't know if this could be mutative, degenerative or…" Reed started explaining, but Johnny didn't wait any longer and grabbed Ben's arm, swapping them back in a second. Johnny grabbed the toaster again and looked at his reflection, letting out a sigh of relief. Ben looked at his reflection, now covered in orange rock again, and grumbled angrily at Johnny.

"Doctor Richards, General Hager is here to see you." Herbie said suddenly and Reed agreed for them to come in. The team went through to the hallway, and saw the General standing there waiting for them. He only had one soldier with him; the captain that drove Amera and Susan to the club the previous night, and she looked as serious as he did. As soon as the General laid his eyes upon the team, he started talking.

"Richards, we need you to find out where the silver humanoid is going to be next. We have all the coordinates of where he's already been; we need to figure out what he's up to." The General instructed them.

"Well, let's head up to the lab. I'm sure I can figure it out regardless…" Reed said, waving to the General and his assistant to follow him. They headed up into the lab, and Reed scanned in the details that the General gave him. A three dimensional globe was projected down onto the floor, and the coordinates were lit up with red dots.

"These are the places where the silver surfer as been already. There seems to be pattern forming…" Reed frowned and turned back to his computer to try and work out a formula for the madness of the craters being made everywhere. Reed turned back to the General and his team, and nodded.

"I have the formula figured out, and according to my calculations the next spot where he's going to appear is in London within the next twelve hours…"

"Good, Richards. Can we expect you to help out in London?" General Hager asked the whole team, and without hesitation, they all nodded. General Hager and his captain nodded and left, heading to the elevator without another word. Herbie's voice came on again once the General had left the building.

"Doctor Richards, I have found something you might find interesting…"

"What is it Herbie?" Reed sighed, thinking it was something that didn't pertain to the situation at all.

"I found some traces of cosmic radiation particles in recent pictures taken by the Hubble telescope. They seem to correlate with the silver humanoid."

Reed's eyes went wide as he thought about it for a second, and then turned to Amera.

"Amera, I know it's asking a lot, but can you…?"

"Hack into the Hubble telescope and get real time pictures? No problem." Amera smiled, and took a seat at Reed's console. She put he hands on the console, and seemed to stare off into space as she did what she was told. After a few seconds, she sat back and turned to face the team.

"Alright, that was fairly easy to do. All the traces of the surfer have been tracked by NASA for months now. This is what a planet from out nearest planetary system looked like a month ago…" Amera said, and as the words left her mouth, a picture appeared on a projected screen for them all to see.

"And this is what it looked like eight days later…" Amera said again, and another picture popped up, but this time it looked worse; like a giant, floating desert.

"This isn't the only example I found. There were…a few." Amera said, and about a twenty side-by-side pictures popped up. Reed and Susan looked around at al the planets that were now barren and then looked at each other.

"What does that mean? The first crater appeared four days ago…" Susan said, looking at Reed.

"It means that four days from now, our planet could be one of those…" Reed said, looking at one of the barren planets. Ben, Johnny and Amera looked around at the planets that were desolate, and tried not to think of their planet's fate.


	40. Chapter 40

Ben, Alicia and Amera sat in the gym, waiting patiently to leave for London. Alicia was there to look after the loft after they left, in case they were gone for longer than expected. Amera was talking to Alicia about the flux problem she and Johnny had, and Ben was preoccupying himself by lifting some weights.

"What if it's like when you started out? Maybe it'll settle after a while." Alicia said, referring to Amera's problem with fluxing molecules.

"I don't know. It doesn't seem to be getting better. Every now and then something goes wrong, like I involuntarily bend metal, or I flood my bathroom like I did this morning; or sometimes it doesn't work at all. It's like I can't control my powers properly anymore…at least I'm living up to my name." Amera sighed and stared out the window. Johnny walked into the gym in a huff, looking like he was about to snap.

"You won't believe what I just heard Reed and Sue talking about…they want to disband after this whole silver surfer thing is over." Johnny huffed and sat on the coffee table across from Amera. He and Amera caught each other's eyes for a moment before Ben dropped his weights and stood up.

"What? When did you hear this?" Ben shouted at Johnny, hoping it was one of his tricks.

"Like one minute ago, in the lounge. They want to live 'normal' lives!" Johnny flipped again. He looked at Amera again, hoping to catch her eyes one more time. They stared a little longer than necessary before Ben came and stood beside them. Alicia stood up and spoke to them all before they started shouting again.

"Hey, just imagine being them. They want to start a family, and in this chaos, it'll be near to impossible. Just give them time; I'm sure they'll explain."

"And then I guess we'll be the 'Terrific Trio'…that sounds terrible." Johnny wanted to laugh, but put his head in his hands instead. A sudden silence fell over them when Reed and Susan entered the gym, coming to get them.

"Come on, we're ready to head out. It's almost time." Susan said, and the team got ready to go.

"I'll see you guys in London. Don't take too long." Amera smiled, heading to the balcony and lighting up, then she was gone in a flash. The rest of the team headed to the new floor that housed the Fantasticar, and got in. Ben piloted it out of the portal that opened in the side of the building, heading to London. Johnny sat next to his sister, and then turned to her.

"So tell me, when _did_ you plan on telling us about you and Reed breaking up the team?"

Susan turned to Johnny, shocked at what he'd just said. She shook her head and tried to wrap her head around explaining the concept to him.

"Johnny, it's not like that. We were going to tell you once this whole incident was over. We didn't want to tell you until we'd decided what we were going to do."

"Yeah, and I suppose that would've been the day you and Reed packed up your stuff and just told us you were leaving." Johnny huffed again, looking away from his sister.

"Johnny, we have bigger things to worry about right now…" Reed said over his shoulder, and the Fantasticar started lowering to the ground. They landed in Jubilee Gardens, and all got out.

"Ok, now that you're done fighting…I'm at the London Eye." Amera said over their communicators. They walked over to the London Eye; many people stared as they noticed them coming, and wondered what was going to happen. They saw Amera standing at the base of the London Eye, staring up at it. She quickly looked back to the ground and saw her team coming.

"Well, I was going to go for a ride but seen as though it's almost time…I decided maybe I should stay down here." Amera said, looking over at Big Ben across the Thames; but as she looked in that direction, she saw the familiar silver glow of the surfer heading their way.

"Guys, here he comes…" Amera said, pointing in the direction of the surfer. The team stood ready and watched as the surfer blazed overhead, causing the London Eye to stop. He then came blazing back, and disappeared into the water of the Thames. Before the Fantastic Five could jump in to stop him, they heard an awful groan coming from the London Eye. They looked up to see the axis had been cracked, and it was going to fall. Amera automatically threw out her arms to try and melt the metal back together, but it wasn't working. Without even thinking about what was happening to Amera, Ben had run underneath the Eye and held it up, while Susan held it back with a force field. Reed had snaked his entire body through the support cables and strung himself to the frame.

"Amera! Can you rejoin the metal?" Reed said to her over her communicator. Without hesitating, she put her arms out again and tried to melt the axis back together, straining with her best effort.

"Amera, are you working on it?" Reed asked again, and she could hear the strain in his voice.

"I'm trying, but my powers are on the blink at the moment. Nothing's working!" She huffed angrily at herself. The silver surfer rose out of the Thames, and Reed knew he was going to get away.

"Johnny, get the surfer. We can hold this until Amera's powers come back." Reed instructed again. Johnny flamed up and flew up to the top of the Eye, and as he was about to pass through the Eye, he touched Reed. Reed's elasticity vanished, and he pulled back together in a blink of an eye, and Johnny fell to the ground as a mass of rubber. Reed was now on fire, hovering above the axis. Almost all the weight of the Eye fell onto Ben and Susan, and they were both struggling.

"Ben, can you lift it higher, I think I can weld this back together." Reed instructed him, and he obeyed accordingly. Ben lifted it so that it fit back in place, and Reed quickly doused it with flames, welding it securely in place. They turned back to the Thames, to see the water disappearing into a giant crater that the silver surfer had just made. The silver surfer was already hovering high above London, looking down into the crater before vanishing. They looked back to the Eye, and the metal had cooled enough for Susan to let down her force field. As soon as the field had dropped, Susan fell to her knees, breathing heavily. Reed ran over to her and helped her up, seeing that her nose was bleeding from the exerted effort. He then turned to Johnny angrily, who was still lying on the ground, and touched his shoulder. As soon as Johnny got to his feet, Reed shook his head and then snapped at him.

"How can you be so reckless, Johnny? You could've killed Ben and Susan with one stupid move…"

Amera almost jumped in between them, and talked back to Reed.

"It's not his fault; it was one mistake Reed, don't crucify him for it. If anyone's to blame, it's me, because I couldn't do the job in the first place."

"Amera…it's not your fault, your powers were gone for a minute…" Ben tried to console her, but she shook her head.

"My powers being gone for one moment could've cost you and Susan your lives. I take responsibility for this…" Amera said, looking at everyone. Johnny jumped in again, trying to comfort Amera.

"This is my fault too…so blame both of us for it." Johnny nodded to them, trying to avoid their eyes.

"Fine, you're both to blame then. That's not helping the problem we have right now…" Ben said, pointing to the giant hole in the middle of the Thames. They stared at the gaping hole and the dry riverbed of the Thames and gritted their teeth.

"I'm guessing General Hager isn't going to be too pleased about this." Ben quipped, and the team could only nod in response.


	41. Chapter 41

Reed was in his lab, calculating the next location of the silver surfer and figuring out a way to stop him from making craters. Herbie came online, Amera's voice followed shortly after, speaking through Herbie's system.

"Reed, General Hager is here to see us…I have a feeling it's not going to be good."

Reed sighed in response, and spoke back to Amera through Herbie's system.

"I'll be down in a minute. Will you take them through to the conference room?"

"Sure thing, Reed." Amera answered, and got offline. Reed got in the elevator and headed downstairs, heading to the conference room as soon as he could. The General was already inside, half a dozen personnel surrounding him, and the rest of the Fantastic Five team were sitting on the other side of the room. The General turned to speak to Reed as soon as he entered the room.

"Richards, what are your plans for getting rid of the surfer?"

"I'm still working on it, General. I have an idea that might stop him…"

"No need, Richards, we have inside information from someone who has had a direct encounter with the surfer. We think you should use his findings." The General said, turning to the door and nodding to one of his personnel to open it. The door opened and someone else stepped in. It didn't take long for them to recognize who it was.

"Ah, the Fantastic Five. Keeping well, are we?" A distinct voice said, and all their faces dropped.

"Victor! Are you kidding me? Tell me this is a bad dream…" Johnny shouted, jumping up from the table he was sitting on. Victor looked exactly the way he did before they left earth on the mission two years ago, and it puzzled them all. Amera froze Victor where he stood, sensing the organic metal still under his skin. The General turned to Reed and stared at him.

"Tell Miss Sigure to release him immediately…"

"I will not release him! And you may address me directly, General; as I am acting of my own free will. The last time we saw Doom, he tried to kill us all spectacularly in the middle of Manhattan, or are you oblivious to all things that happen in the news?" Amera shouted, and almost a dozen guns were pulled out and pointed at her for her outburst. They quickly floated out of the personnel's hands and into the air, clear from their grasp; Amera smiled at their ignorance of her abilities.

"Trust us when we say, General, if you trust Victor, you will regret it." Reed said, but looked directly at Victor when he spoke.

"The only ones I've come to regret trusting is you and your team, Richards. You've let the surfer slip by twice already…"

"Would you have let hundreds of innocent people die just to catch the surfer? Cause that's what we were facing in London…" Amera retorted again, and Susan turned to her with a stern look on her face.

"Amera, stop. Let's hear what information Victor has first."

Amera nodded angrily, and let Victor out of her control, but did not return the guns to the military personnel. He shook his head and looked at the Fantastic Five, before stopping at Susan.

"Let's be clear, I hate you…all of you; but the world is at stake and we need to work together to save it. I found the surfer in Russia, and was fortunate enough to get this footage of him using his abilities…" Victor walked over to the projector, and turned it on, showing the footage he was mentioning. It showed Victor walking up to the surfer, trying to converse with him, and then getting blasted in the chest with a bolt of energy. Johnny and Amera smiled at that part, but Reed frowned at the footage.

"Did that energy…come from his board?" Reed asked, and Victor clapped sarcastically.

"Ah, so you're not as dumb as you look, Richards. We need to separate him from his board; it's his source of power. But _how_ is the next question…" Victor finished, and the General chipped in.

"It's settled then. You will both be working on a way to separate the surfer from his board. I expect a solution before he makes his next landfall. Good day." The General nodded and headed back out. Amera let down the military weapons, and the personnel grabbed them up before following the General back to the elevator, leaving Victor with the Fantastic Five.

"Ben, if you'd please escort Victor to the lab, I'll be up in a moment." Reed said to them. Ben pushed Victor out the door, but Amera and Johnny followed in case Victor did something. Reed sat back in a chair and rolled his eyes, and Susan crouched down in front of him.

"I know it's not ideal…but two minds are better than one." Susan said, trying to comfort Reed.

"I suppose you're right. Besides, if we don't, the world is dead in a few days anyway."

"There you go. Now calm down, get your pulse rate down before you go upstairs and figure out the solution…"

Reed's eyes went wide as he thought over what Susan had just said, and jumped to his feet.

"A pulse. A pulse generator. You're a genius Susan! This will work for sure…" Reed said, almost running out the door and back to his lab elevator. Susan stood still for one moment as she thought about what she'd said before following Reed up to the lab.


	42. Chapter 42

While Reed, Susan and Victor spent the night in Reed's lab; Ben, Johnny and Amera headed to a pub down the road were they were recognised as regulars. They sat at a table near the back, where there were few other people. The barman bought them their regular drinks, and Johnny and Amera took to playing darts, with Ben watching closely that they never came close to touching each other. It was Amera's turn to throw, and instead of throwing the dart as she meant to, it melted into a little puddle in her hands. The molten metal slipped through her fingers and to the floor, where the head barman saw it.

"Sorry Warren. I'll buy a new set." She blurted out quickly, turning to spot the barman. The metal taps on the draught beer were also a little bent out of shape, as were a few other metal things.

"I'll straighten those out when I'm feeling better…" Amera promised. The barman nodded at her, taking note of her promise before going back to pouring beer. Johnny stepped up to take his shot, twirling the dart in his fingers.

"Ok, so I'll take that as a forfeit on your half, Amera…" He laughed, and she pouted at him.

"I'll throw later. It's not exactly fair that I'm fluxing right now…"

"Ok, fine. You can throw a double set later." Johnny shrugged, taking his set of darts and throwing them one by one into the board. Amera and Ben sat watching, and when Johnny was done with his set, he came to sit at the table again, drinking the last of his beer in one gulp.

"So what do you guys make of Victor trying to help capture the surfer? It all seems a bit…dodgy…" Amera asked, trying to keep her voice low enough so that the other patrons wouldn't hear.

"That's was all General Hager's idea, I know Reed's not happy with the suggestion…" Ben answered gruffly.

"You know what? We wouldn't even be in this position if I wasn't such a complete screw up…" Johnny sighed, and signalled the bartender to bring him another pint.

"Hey, you're not a complete screw-up. A _partial_ screw-up, maybe…" Ben joked

"Thanks." Johnny smiled.

"Johnny, don't worry about it. I thought we agreed that we _both_ kinda screwed up in London." Amera smiled at him, and he tried his best not to stare for too long. Ben turned to the both of them, trying to make them drop the issue of the London disaster.

"Look, there's nothing any of us can do right now. It's all up to the eggheads…"

Amera and Johnny nodded at the sentiment, and Amera stood up to throw her double round of darts. As soon as she was sure that her powers were stable, she started throwing her first set. Johnny turned to Ben again, trying to keep his voice low again.

"You think Reed's right? That this might really be the end of the world?" Johnny swallowed hard at the thought.

"He doesn't joke around with stuff like this." Ben nodded, sitting back in his chair and watching his cousin throwing darts. Johnny sat back in his chair again, and swallowed hard. Amera came back to the table and put the darts in front of Johnny, indicating that it was his turn to throw. Amera sat back down next to Ben, and Johnny took the darts in his hand and got up to throw his set. After he threw his first dart, he turned back to Amera and Ben.

"You know that I'm not a deep kind of guy…" He started, and Ben laughed.

"_No_?" Ben answered sarcastically, which made Amera laugh.

"I'm just saying…if we can't stop the silver surfer and the world is really going to end…how are you going to spend your last few minutes?" Johnny asked the both of them. Amera sat in silence and looked over to Ben, hoping he'd answer first. Ben held up his empty pitcher and looked straight to the bottom, thinking about the question.

"Part of me would like to go out fighting…but to tell you the truth; I think I'd like to spend my last few minutes holding onto Alicia."

"That sounds good to me…" Johnny smiled, staring absentmindedly at Amera, but then caught Ben's angry stare. He then realized what he had in advertently said, and tried to backtrack.

"Not holding onto Alicia, because she's your girlfriend, not mine. I have no interest in her whatsoever…"

Ben looked like he'd gone from mildly irritated to halfway fuming; but Amera was smiling at Johnny's attempt to get himself out of trouble. Johnny tried to back track again.

"Not that she's not attractive…because she is _so_ attractive. I mean, who wouldn't want to..."

This time it was not only angry looks from Ben, but a surprised gaze from Amera as well. Ben's glass pitcher shattered in his hands, and Johnny tried one last time.

"What I _meant_ is that it's nice to have somebody _to hold_…you know, without hurting them." Johnny sighed, and Ben nodded happily.

"Well, you got me pal. At least I'm fireproof…" Ben smiled, and got up for another pitcher of beer. Amera sat back and watched Ben leave, and Johnny sat across from her once again.

"Well I'm sure _you_ know what I meant, right?" He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Of course I did…like you could make it any less subtle." Amera laughed.

"Hey…you didn't answer the question. What would _you_ do with your last few minutes?" Johnny asked seriously. Amera sat forward and locked onto Johnny's eyes, staring into them and making him swallow hard.

"I'd fight till the end; for my loved ones and for my planet. I'd like to go out knowing I gave it my all, and that my loved ones knew that I did it for them."

"I'll be right there next to you…because, well, what Ben said…" Johnny said, and then quickly stood up again, returning to throwing darts. Amera spun around and saw Ben heading back with another pitcher of beer. Johnny threw his last dart and it lit up spectacularly, lighting the dart board on fire. He quickly grabbed his pint of beer and threw it over the board, to the many stares from the other patrons. Johnny spun around to see the head barman, Warren, staring at him angrily.

"Sorry, I'll pay for that." Johnny said quickly, and the barman rolled his eyes and went to go get a mop.

"Are you two going to leave this bar in one piece when we leave, or are we going to have to buy a whole new everything for them?" Ben joked with Johnny and Amera, and they locked eyes for one moment before laughing.


	43. Chapter 43

After Reed, Susan and Victor had spent almost the entire night building pulse generators, they were on their way to the newest coordinates in Germany. The coordinates were in the Black Forest, and Reed had already come up with a plan to set up the generators. As they landed in the forest, General Hager and his troops had already set up everything they needed at the base site. It was a few hours till the arrival time of the silver surfer, and the Fantastic Five decided that they would first brief General Hager on their plans before going ahead and setting up the pulse generators. Reed called for and impromptu conference at the edge of the base camp with his team and General Hager.

"What is this about Richards?" General Hager asked, not looking too pleased with being called away.

"We need a distraction for when the surfer eventually arrives. The pulse generators take a few seconds to charge to the capacity they need to take the surfer off his board. We need you to help us out by keeping him down here long enough for that to happen." Reed explained, and the General looked puzzled but smug.

"Are you saying that your little devices might not work?"

"I'm sure they'll work, General, we just need a distraction…"

"_We need a distraction_? Are you giving _me_ orders, Richards?" General Hager asked again, this time sounding as angry as he looked.

"I'm not giving you orders General, but it is for global safety, so it is advised to…" Reed started, but was once again cut off by General Hager.

"Let me make this clear for you and your pack of freaks, Richards. I'm the quarterback, you're on my team; I am not on yours. But I guess you didn't play football in high school, did you, Richards?" General Hager huffed and started walking away, in a sense declining Reed's request for a distraction. Reed shrugged and started talking to the General as he walked away.

"You're right. I didn't play football. I stayed in and studied like a good little nerd. And fifteen years later, I'm one of the greatest minds of the 21st century. I'm engaged to the hottest woman on the planet. And the big jock who played football in high school, he standing right in front of me asking me for my help, and I say he's not going to get a damn thing, unless he does exactly what I say and starts treating me and my friends with some respect." Reed almost shouted his last words, and General Hager looked surprised at his outburst. General Hager turned to one of his subordinates and nodded.

"Give him what he wants." General Hager ordered before walking away. The Fantastic Five stood around, surprised at his outburst.

"I'm so hot for you right now." Susan whispered to him, but obviously Johnny heard them.

"Me too!" Johnny grinned, hugging Reed from behind and swapping their powers temporarily. Reed smiled and touched Johnny again, giving his powers back.

"Ok, I've given you each a location. We should set up our generators before the surfer makes landfall." Reed said, and the team took their coordinates and starting walking in the different directions where they needed to set up their pulse generators. Amera set off into the forest with her GPS on her belt; she picked up a signal every few seconds as to where she was. Once she found her spot, she took the cap off her generator and revealed the sharp spike which she drove into the ground. Once she was satisfied that it was secured, she started making her way back. She heard a horrendously loud roar coming from somewhere behind her, and immediately spoke into her communicator.

"Ben, what on earth are you doing?"

"Just found a bear that might've been more scared of me than any other living thing." Ben laughed, and Amera smiled.

"Ok, I'll meet you back at the base once you're done scaring bears." Amera joked and Ben agreed. Amera started walking again, when she saw a silver flash come past her eyes; she knew it was the surfer. She spoke into her communicator again, but much more cautiously.

"Guys, he's here. I hope you're done setting up your generators…"

"Well, I have a problem…he's right in front of me…" Susan said into her communicator, and there was a collective silence.

"Sue, get out of there." Reed shouted over their communicators. But Susan stood still and looked at the silver surfer as he floated towards her. Amera knew Susan's location and started running through the forest towards her spot, in hopes to help her if she could.

"Why are you trying to destroy us?" Susan asked the surfer as he came as close to her as she would allow.

"I have no choice." The silver surfer responded, talking perfect English.

"What do you mean you have no choice? We _always_ have a choice." Susan answered, and the silver surfer shook his head once.

"Not always."

"What do you mean not always? Aren't _you_ the destroyer?" Susan asked again. Amera appeared in the clearing next to Susan, seeing the surfer hovering a few feet away from her. Amera stopped in her tracks once the surfer laid eyes on her, but he didn't look like he was about to attack her again.

"I am not the destroyer, I am merely a beacon for the one you call destroyer. All that you know…is at an end."

Amera and Susan laid eyes on each other as he spoke those words. Reed, Ben and Johnny found the two of them, but before they could say anything, they heard the sounds of missile launchers. The surfer took off, leaving the Fantastic Five standing in the middle of the forest. The missiles were locked onto the surfer, so they followed him as he flew off into the distance. With no effort at all, he exploded two, swatted one down, and absorbed the last one with his board. Reed knew that the missiles were the distraction he was asking for, and immediately turned the pulse generators on. In fifteen seconds they were ready to fire a pulse, and the surfer was in the middle of the five generators. He fired them, and in one instant the surfer fell from his board, and the board fell to the ground with him. The army moved in and captured the surfer and the board, keeping the two from each other in separate mobile cells. General Hager soon met up with the Fantastic Five again, looking smug at their joint victory.

"Well Richards, turns out it did work. Now, if you'd please accompany us to our facility…"

"But we've done our job, General…" Susan started and the General cut her off.

"Yes, I know that. We might need more help as we perform our experiments, and it would be handy to have you all there."

A dozen or so soldiers appeared around them, escorting them back towards the base camp. They were forced into a Humvee and it started driving. The windows were blacked out, and there was a metal divide between the five of them and the driver. Reed quickly typed something on his communicator, and then looked around before looking to his team.

"I'm sending the Fantasticar back to New York; but we need to see what's coming, what the silver surfer is a beacon for; and I have a feeling General Hager isn't going to tell us anything…"

Amera looked around at the Humvee as well, and smiled.

"They seem to be very lax in the department of studying their allies…this Humvee isn't airtight, so I could get out…is there anything I should do?" Amera offered, and Reed nodded.

"I need you to go back to the lab, and trace that cosmic energy of the silver surfer. See if there are anymore changes or even another source of the energy…"

"Yes sir, on my way." Amera nodded with a smile. She quickly disappeared and seeped through the gaps of the Humvee; within another second or two, they heard her voice over their communicators.

"Alright, I'm back at the lab. I'll let you know if I find anything." Amera said.

"Thank you, Amera." Susan sighed in relief and sat back in her seat.


	44. Chapter 44

Amera sat down in the lab, with a projection screen showing the current news and her hands on the console. She was once again tapped into the Hubble telescope, using its infrared camera to find any of the cosmic radiation from the surfer. As she was carefully manoeuvring the camera around, she spotted something just outside the solar system, something she was sure wasn't there a few days ago.

"Amera, there's something on the news I think you'd like to watch." Hereby said quickly, and Amera looked to the screen. There was a current report on all the craters the surfer had made, and the concerns of citizen's world wide.

"Herbie, do me favour and find all the craters, and then place them on a globe for me. I want to see how many craters the surfer had left to do according to Reed's formula…"

"Will do, Amera." Herbie said, and quickly built a globe with all the current locations of craters. Amera carried on with her search with the Hubble telescope, and saw a mass of what looked like cosmic dust; it looked almost like nebula, except it was moving. Amera quickly captured the image and sent it through to Herbie.

"Oh my God…Herbie, please send that image through to Reed, he needs to see it. I'm sure that's what the surfer is a beacon for…"

There was a long pause from Herbie before he answered.

"Their communicators seem to have lost signal. I will send it through as soon as they're online."

"Dammit, do you have a read on their last location as least?" Amera asked again.

"Yes. I got a read on their location five seconds before they lost signal…" Herbie responded, and a map appeared on a screen, showing a vast snowy landscape with no signs of life except for one small research station.

"Alright. That might just be cover. Let me see if I can get into a security system and see where the others are…" Amera said, sitting down at the console again, searching for some type of electrical signal coming from the research station.

"Amera, according to Reed's formula, the crater in Germany was the last one that was meant to be made…" Herbie said again, and Amera stopped.

"Then that thing has to be coming for the surfer…it must've sensed that we captured him. We only have a day left…unless in that one day, it does whatever it did to those other planets." Amera shook her head, and turned back to the console, trying her best to get into the system of the research station. Once she was in, she saw it was a lot bigger, and definitely not a research station.

"Aha, I'm in. Ok, I found them; they're running around the base…strange…" Amera frowned. Then she heard a noise somewhere above the lab, and thought of what could've possibly made it. The Fantasticar had arrived only twenty minutes after her, and she was sure that was the noise she was hearing. She caught one last glimpse of the team running out, and Reed sending a signal out. They had the silver surfer with them, and he didn't look too well. Then everything seemed to slow down in one second; she heard glass shattering, and then a sharp pain in her neck. She turned around quickly to see the glass porthole of Reed's lab shattered, with what looked like Doom standing atop the surfer's board. He had a device attached to his hand, and was typing on its keypad while laughing.

"A wonderful device I invented while working here in Reed's lab. It's amazing how unobservant that lout can be…" Doom chuckled and pressed a single button on his keypad; Amera's response was to flame up. It wasn't an action of her own, and she immediately knew what had happened. Doom pressed another button and her flame died out.

"Ah, good to see that I still have the know-how. So here's how it's going to go Amera…you're my new _puppet_, and you're going to kill your team one by one. I've injected a device into your central nervous system that controls your nerve signals. Brilliant, don't you think?" Doom laughed again and started keying in a new combination on his keypad. Amera's head was still working perfectly fine, and she knew what she had to do, even though she wanted to kill Doom with her bare hands. She thought as hard as she could, trying to get a message to Herbie.

"_Herbie, please tell me you can hear me. Answer me using code, not audio please…"_ Amera begged with her thoughts.

"_Amera? What is happening? What is Victor doing to you?"_ Herbie answered her, sure to not use the audio system in the lab.

"_Doom has injected me with some nerve control device. I can't control my elemental powers, but I don't think Doom knows about my technopathic powers. Doom also has the board, and I don't what he has planned for me or it, but it can't be good. Broadcast to Reed immediately, I know he got out of the military facility and he should get the message."_ Amera answered Herbie, and she could hear the frequency code being sent by Herbie. Herbie stopped with the code frequency, and answered Amera.

"_Their communicators still aren't working. They must be resetting after their signals being blocked for so long…"_

Amera swore in her head, thinking the messages would never get through to Reed. Amera was about to answer Herbie, but Doom started talking to her again.

"Come now, Amera, we have some work to do. Your little team has to come find us, and then hopefully you can kill them slowly and painfully." Doom keyed in one more combination and she took off her communicator, the last hope she had of being tracked. She then lit up in her light form, and flew out the broken porthole, following Doom to wherever he was leading her.


	45. Chapter 45

The rest of the Fantastic Five were running out of the military institute in Russia, taking the silver surfer with them. The board had gone missing, and so had Doom, and they put the two together to figure out the Doom had the board and was planning to do something horrible. Reed had barely got a signal out to the Fantasticar to come get them before his communicator reset itself. Reed took off his communicator and looked at the amount of time it had until it was fully functioning again.

"Dammit! We have to wait three minutes before our communicators are working again!" Reed flipped, and looked out into the blizzard of snow. They had to wait patiently for the Fantasticar to arrive and for their communicators to reset. Their communicators had reset before the Fantasticar had arrived, and they put them back on just in time to hear Herbie's voice.

"Doctor Richards! Something terrible has happened with Amera…"

Stillness fell over them as they heard those words from Herbie, and only Reed was brave enough to respond.

"What's happened, Herbie?"

"Victor was in the lab a few minutes ago…he's injected a central nervous system control device into Amera's neck. They left a few moments ago…Victor was most definitely controlling her. But she ordered me to send this picture to you…"

They froze again, thinking of what Amera must be going through. Reed's communicator lit up as a mini-projection screen appeared, showing him the picture that Amera had taken with the Hubble telescope.

"What in the world is that?" Reed wondered out loud, and Susan stepped up next to him.

"That's the thing the surfer showed me…Galactus…is it in our solar system?"

"No, but it is close." Reed said again. They all turned to the surfer, and he stared back at them blankly.

"Galactus can be defeated…but I need my board." The surfer told them. Just then, Herbie cut in again, and spoke to all the remaining Fantastic Five.

"Amera is sending a message through to me right now, let me relay it…" Herbie started, and as soon as he'd finished, Amera's voice come thorough their communicators.

"_Herbie! Are their communicators working yet?"_ Amera said. It wasn't her usual voice, but rather Herbie's digitized version of it; even with the digitizing, they could still hear the strain in her voice.

"Amera! We're right here. What's happening?" Susan said quickly.

"_Thank God! Doom…well I'm sure Herbie told you…but we're heading somewhere…I think we just went over India, heading towards China. I don't think Doom can control my technopathic powers, so I can still talk to you."_ Amera said, sounding hopeful at the fact that she could still communicate with them. The Fantasticar arrived, hovering through the blizzard to the balcony where they stood. Johnny didn't want to climb into the Fantasticar; instead he lit up and hovered above it, letting the surfer take his seat.

"Let's go get Doom. He's dead when I lay my hands on him…" Ben said, taking his seat as the pilot. They got into the Fantasticar, and headed towards China. Johnny flew behind the Fantasticar, following it as closely as he could. He thought of Amera's voice being played to them by Herbie; how scared she sounded but yet tried to sound so brave for their sake. The last thing he could think of was how he was going to beat the living daylights out of Doom when he found him.


	46. Chapter 46

They were heading towards China, where Amera said they were headed. They hoped that Doom wasn't going anywhere near fast enough to outrun them, just so that they could catch up to him and Amera. They all sat silently, intensely looking for Amera's light or the silver glint of the board. Susan and the surfer sat in the middle section of the Fantasticar, when the surfer started to speak.

"Norrin."

"What did you say?" Susan asked, turning to him.

"You asked me my name…I used to be known as Norrin Radd."

"Well, Norrin, how are we going to defeat Galactus?" Susan asked again, but the surfer didn't answer her this time. Reed had finally picked up cosmic radiation trace from the surfer's board, and from what he could see they were close.

"There they are, just ahead of us. We have to get Amera out of there first before we go after Doom." Reed said quickly, and everyone agreed. Amera was the glowing white light following Doom; they could only guess what he was planning to do with her and her powers.

"_You found us! I don't know how to stop the signal of this device; any ideas, Reed?"_ Amera asked through the sound system of the Fantasticar.

"The only thing I can think of is for you download some type of virus on the device; see if it stops operating after that."

"_Great idea, Reed! Herbie, did you get that? Get me the worst virus you can find and send it to me…"_

'Yes Amera, it will take a while to upload and to get into the root drive." Herbie added, and started sending the virus to Amera. Once they were close enough to Doom, Reed opened the Fantasticar canopy, and shouted to Doom above the wind.

"Victor! You need to give the surfer his board back; he's the only one who can stop Galactus."

Doom looked back at Reed over his shoulder and laughed.

"You know I've never been the giving type, Reed." Doom turned to Amera, and in one second the Fantasticar crunched under the force of her metal manipulation.

"_I'm sorry!"_ Amera shouted through the sound system of the Fantasticar to her team mates, but Doom heard it as well.

"Oh? What was that little trick, Amera?" Doom asked. Amera didn't answer; even when Doom gave her the chance. The Fantasticar spilt into three pieces, each one heading in a different direction with Johnny flying in between them.

"You get the firefly; I'm going to have some fun with the others." Doom ordered her as he headed after the three pieces of the Fantasticar. Amera flew after Johnny, watching him now flying in the opposite direction to the Fantasticar.

"_Johnny! Heads up!"_ Amera shouted to him over his communicator. Johnny turned around just in time to see Amera coming up behind him.

"Amera, don't do this!" Johnny shouted back at her, but her face was emotionless as she got closer and closer to him. He flew faster, nearing his supersonic limit, but she was faster. He looked back, and she was gone, but as he turned his head forwards she materialized in front of his eyes. He stopped dead in his tracks as Amera trapped him in an air bubble; then she started taking the oxygen out of the bubble, causing Johnny's flames to flicker out. He eventually couldn't breathe, and his vision starting tunnelling.

"Amera…stop…please…" He choked out, collapsing to his knees in the air bubble. Amera's face was still emotionless as the air started getting colder; she was going to kill him.

"_Johnny, please hold on for a few more seconds…the virus is almost uploaded. Please…fight it."_ Amera begged over his communicator again. Johnny smiled; he knew in a few seconds Amera would be back to normal and they could help the others. He glanced over his shoulder at the others, still fighting with Doom; they needed their help but the virus hadn't started working yet. Johnny fell down on his back, being caught by the air bubble; light spots started flickering in his eyes.

"_Johnny, please stay awake! Stay with me!"_ Her voice said to him again over his communicator. Johnny lay motionless in the air bubble; Amera was sure he'd already lost consciousness. Orders were coming from Doom, telling her to finish him off. She almost started crying as her body started obeying Doom's orders; her team mates were trying their best to get her to stop.

"_Amera, the virus has uploaded. It should destroy the root drive in five seconds."_ Herbie told her quickly.

"_Thank you Herbie!"_ Amera said back. She started counting down the seconds; it seemed like the longest five seconds of her life. As she felt the device started dying, her light started flickering on and off.

"What are you doing!" Doom shouted at her, seeing her body disobeying his coding. The device died, and Amera flamed up to keep her flying. She maintained the air bubble that Johnny was in, but immediately started feeding oxygen back into it. She floated over to the bubble, and started talking to him.

"Johnny! Johnny, please wake up!" Amera said to him, on the brink of tears from what she had done to him. He didn't respond. Amera turned around, seeing that the three pieces of the Fantasticar were now gone. She heard a bang somewhere out of her view; she guessed they had crash landed in the city. Amera swallowed hard, mustering some water out of the air to touch Johnny with.

"Johnny, we have to help them. Please, wake up…" Amera begged again, using the water to form the shape of her hand to touch him. He stirred at her touch, instinctively reaching for the water that held the shape of her hand. She smiled slightly, and then dropped the water over him. His eyes shot open, and saw Amera hovering over him with a smile on her face.

"Talk about a rude awakening…" Johnny smiled up at her.

"Well, it's about time. We need to help the others, they're in the city."

Johnny flamed up and they darted towards the city as fast as they could.


	47. Chapter 47

When they reached the city, they found the three pieces of the Fantasticar scattered down one street. Doom was wreaking havoc as he went, but for the time being he was out of their view. Amera landed near Susan and the surfer, and Johnny flew further down the street to find Ben and Reed.

"Susan, where's Doom?" Amera asked, helping Susan to her feet with the help of an air bubble. Susan shook her head as she clutched a wound across her temple. Amera looked over to the surfer, and saw him staring out into the distance. She looked down the street and saw the silver glow of the board coming their way.

"Susan, watch out!" Amera shouted. Doom sent an energized metal rod flying towards them, aiming for the surfer. Amera threw her ands forward, hoping to catch the piece of metal, but it wasn't working. Susan stepped in front of the surfer and encased them both in a force field. The last thing Susan heard before she let down her force field was Amera's screaming.

"Susan! Oh my God! Susan!" Amera shouted. Susan looked down and saw the metal rod protruding out her stomach, bloodied and shaking. The surfer watched wide-eyed as Susan fell to the ground; dissolving the rod with a force field. Amera caught her with an air bubble before she hit the road; tears were already evaporating on Amera's hot cheeks. Reed, Ben and Johnny heard Amera's screaming, and came running, only to find Susan lying in her air bubble.

"Susan!" Reed shouted, and grabbed her up from Amera's air bubble, laying her gently on his lap. Amera stood back as Reed stepped in, her face sad and angry at once. Johnny stood next to Amera, looking down at his sister dying in Reed's arms. Amera and Johnny locked eyes for one moment, and they saw the same emotions; anger and a want for vengeance.

"We need to get Doom off that board…we can't do it one at a time, it'll take all of us." Reed said, never taking his eyes off of Susan. Amera and Johnny laid eyes on each other one more time, and Johnny knew what he had to do.

"Or just me and Amera…I'll take your powers…" Johnny said, and Reed shook his head.

"We can't do that, Johnny. We have no idea what it'll do to you." Reed said in shock.

"I don't care; I'm going to get Doom off that board…" Johnny said, looking down at his sister. Reed and Ben shook their heads and held out their three hands for him to touch. Johnny pulled back once all their powers had transferred to him, and looked at Amera.

"You do what you can with your elements, but I'm beating the crap out of him. Remember, we have to stay away from each other…" Johnny directed Amera and she nodded in response. They both flamed up and flew in two directions high above the city, trying to find Doom. Amera was determined to find him first; she was going to beat the living out of him before Johnny could find him. She spotted Doom nearing a construction site, and she smiled to herself. She couldn't see Johnny anywhere, and she knew it was time to beat him to a pulp.

"Hey Victor!" Amera shouted. Doom turned his heard halfway to see Amera behind him, and then got hit hard through the face with an I-beam. Amera laughed as she hit him again, sending him into the building, hitting every column in his path. She landed in the building, and took another beam to hit him out of the building on the other side. Before she could lay into him with another blow, it looked like he was being constricted by an invisible force. She ran to the edge of the floor just as Johnny flamed up, laying a fist of rubble into Doom's head. Johnny wrapped tighter and tighter around Doom's body and lit himself up, aiming his heat at the device on Doom's hand that controlled the board and the device in Amera.

"Don't you dare! If this device breaks, the one in you're girlfriend over there gets set to explode." Doom threatened him. Johnny froze for a moment, and his grip waned over Doom just enough for him to try and move his hand out.

"Do it, Johnny! Quickly! That device also controls the board!" Amera shouted at him from the ledge where she was standing. Johnny swallowed and shook his head, knowing he couldn't do that to Amera. He knew that he was supposed to get the board, but he couldn't because of the risk to _her_. Amera immediately saw the hesitation and stepped in. She formed a nearby I-beam into a sharp metal spike and sent it flying at Doom's hand. The spike flew through the device like butter, and straight through Doom's hand. He screamed in agony as the device fell from his hand, the board spiralling down to the ground with it. A wrecking ball came from above, smacking Doom out of Johnny's grasp and into the harbour. Johnny turned to Amera, angry and scared.

"What are we going to do now, Amera? You're a walking time bomb!" Johnny shouted at her, but he sounded more worried than angry.

"We'll deal with that later, Johnny; we've got other things to do right now." Amera said, jumping off the ledge of the building and flaming up. Johnny followed her reluctantly, heading towards where they left their team mates.


	48. Chapter 48

Johnny and Amera landed a few meters short of Reed and Susan, where Susan lay motionless in Reed's arms. Ben ran out from the building where he was just operating the wrecking ball, to see Johnny and Amera already standing over Susan. Johnny gave all his powers back to their respective owners, touching them all one by one. Susan was no longer breathing, and everyone around them noticed. The surfer summoned his board back to him, and once he was on it, he started to regain his overt shine. Amera looked between Reed and Susan; they were so close to being a family that it seemed wrong for her to die now. She phased into metal and hit the surfer's board, making it bob slightly up and down.

"Fix her! She did this to save you! Please!" Amera shouted at the surfer. The surfer turned slowly, looking into the sky for a moment. Everyone else then followed his lead, looking to the sky to see what looked like a massive nebula reaching down for the earth. The surfer turned back to the team, and put his hand over Susan for a moment. He pulled his hand back and turned to the team, speaking slowly.

"Treasure each moment with her and tell her she's right, we do have a choice."

The team stood back as the surfer started to fly higher and higher, until he was flying towards the centre of Galactus. Johnny and Amera set eyes on each other and smiled.

"Let's give him a hand…" Johnny said and Amera nodded in agreement. Amera and Johnny lit up and flew after the surfer, willing to lend him a helping hand. As they neared the surfer, they were starting to fly into debris and rock. The surfer was struggling as much as they were; Johnny steadied the surfer's board and Amera forced the rock away to form a clear path for them. The surfer turned around to see Amera and Johnny flying behind him.

"We thought you could use a little help…" Johnny shrugged. The surfer nodded in thanks as they started entering the very heart of Galactus. Amera's and Johnny's flames started to flicker, when they realised how high above the earth they were already. They fell back and let the surfer go; Amera cleared a path for him as far as she could.

"Good luck!" Amera shouted to him. The surfer didn't turn back this time as he flew into the heart of Galactus. Amera and Johnny started falling back towards the earth, but as they did they saw the heart of Galactus; it looked like a sun. Amera and Johnny fell fast towards the earth, waiting for the air to be able to sustain their flames. They flamed on just before landing in the city again. There was chaos everywhere they looked; people running, power lines snapping and debris flying all around. The Fantastic Five were the only people staying still, looking into the turmoil above them. Susan was still out cold in Reed's arms, but he refused to put her down. Ben, Amera and Johnny stood in the middle of the street, staring into the sky.

"Well, I know we're not fighting, but at least we're all together." Amera said to the team, and they nodded silently. Suddenly, everything went quiet. Nothing moved; there was no wind or chaos. They looked back up into the sky and there was a bright flash of light. The power went out, and the world seemed pitch black for one moment. The stars started showing again, and then the power came back on. The street lights and neon signs started glowing again, and the crowds all around the Fantastic Five started cheering.

"What did I miss?"

The team suddenly turned to look at Reed and Susan; Susan was awake and well, smiling up at Reed.

"Pretty much everything…" Reed smiled and lifted Susan higher so he could kiss her. Once everyone else saw Susan was fine, they started cheering louder. Johnny jumped up, cheering as loud as the crowd. He jumped on Ben and gave him a peck on the forehead.

"Ugh! Get off!" Ben shouted at him. Johnny froze for a moment, and touched Ben again on the shoulder over and over. A wide smile broke across his face.

"Guys! I'm back to normal!"

Amera smiled wide and ran up to Ben, jumping into his arms. Ben laughed as he picked her up off the ground, and she noticed nothing happened with her either.

"Me too!" Amera shouted. Reed and Susan both looked delighted by the fact that they no longer had a potential atomic explosion walking around. Ben put her back on the ground, and she quickly ran up to Reed and Susan and hugged them both at once. She stood back and smiled before going towards Johnny.

"So…now there's no potential for an atomic explosion. Now what?" Amera asked as she approached Johnny.

"Well, I can think of one thing…" He smirked. His arms wrapped around her waist so quickly she couldn't protest. His lips crashed into hers the next second; swiftly enough that she had no idea what to do in front of the others, but she gave in nevertheless and kissed him back. The heat from his body was wonderfully dizzying; so much so that she wrapped her arms around his neck trying to pull him even closer.

"Uh uhm…" Reed cleared his throat somewhere behind them, and they pulled back from each other. Amera opened her eyes to just see Johnny's mouth, a slight smile on his face. They both looked towards their other team mates; Ben looked murderously angry, Susan looked shocked and Reed looked slightly smug.

"Jonathan!" Susan shouted at him, but didn't sound nearly as angry as she should have.

"What? I couldn't help it." Johnny shrugged with his arms still around Amera's waist.

"How long has this been going on?" Susan asked, eyeing Johnny for any signs of lying.

"Not long, but we have known each other for two years…so that counts, right?" He smiled innocently.

"Counts? Count the dings in your head, matchstick! You're dead!" Ben shouted and ran after Johnny.


	49. Chapter 49

Once they had convinced Ben to stop chasing Johnny, they headed down the street to a hotel where they could stay for the night. Johnny put his arm around Amera's waist; much to Ben's dismay, and Reed had his arm around Susan's shoulders. As they walked down the street to the hotel, Johnny sighed rather loudly and then turned to his sister.

"So I suppose this is the end of the Fantastic Five? After this, we go our separate ways?"

"Nah, I don't think so…" Susan smiled while looking at Reed.

"What? Have you changed your minds?" Amera asked after Johnny.

"I think we can raise a family in all this chaos; after all, this _is_ who we are now." Susan finished, and Reed nodded in agreement.

"So we don't have to be the 'Terrific Trio', matchstick…" Ben grumbled angrily as he looked at Johnny holding his cousin. Once they had reached the hotel, the manager ran out to meet them and greeted them all by name.

"You can stay for free this evening! It's the least we can do." He nodded with a bow.

"Thank you, sir, but we would rather pay for the night, seen as though you might need the money in the future." Susan said while looking at the damages, and then looked to Amera.

"Oh, yeah, I'll just wire some money through to you. How much for the night?" Amera asked. The manager looked at them and saw the two couples and started working it out in his head.

"For three rooms…I'll give you discount…¥30 000…"

"Not so fast, buddy…_four_ rooms; these two aren't staying together…" Ben said, pointing at Johnny and Amera.

"Ok, still ¥30 000 for _four_ rooms." The manager offered as he nodded for them to follow him to the counter. He handed them four key cards for their rooms.

"I've wired the money through for the evening. Thanks again." Amera said, and the manager nodded.

"Thank you. I just received the notification. Have a good night." The manager clicked his fingers for the busboy to show them to their rooms. As they got to each of their rooms; Ben made sure that Johnny and Amera stayed as far away from each other. Amera pouted and kissed Johnny goodnight on the cheek; which made Ben fume again, before heading to her room and locking the door. Ben was satisfied and went into his room, and soon the hall was quiet. Within minutes of Amera being in her room, there was a knock on her door. She got up and went to answer it; it was the bus boy again, but this time he had a rack of clothing with him.

"Seen as though you don't have clothes for the evening or the morning; the boutique downstairs has offered you these garments free of charge. Miss Storm has graciously accepted the offer, so here is your selection." The busboy said, leaving the clothes at the foot of Amera's bed.

"Thank you. I appreciate the thought." Amera nodded, and the busboy left again. She made sure to close her door loudly enough so that Ben would hear it. She grabbed the pyjamas off the rack and held them in her hand, thinking of a devious a plan. She stripped off her Fantastic suit and slipped into her pyjamas; she then dissolved and slipped under her door and down the hall. Johnny had already slipped into a pair of boxers that the busboy had bought him with his rack of clothes, and was walking around his bed to get to his window. Before he had even got the chance to open the window, he felt a cool breeze swirl around his room. He leant back against the windowsill and smiled.

"Amera…?" He whispered into his empty, dark room. Amera materialised in front of him, tilting her head innocently at him.

"Who else did you expect?" She smiled. Johnny smirked, running his hands up and down her bare arms, watching her reaction. As soon as he started feeling the goose bumps, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

"What exactly did you plan on doing once you were in here?" He whispered to her.

"Oh, I think you know, Mister Storm." Amera looked up at him from under her eyebrows. He moved his arms down to her waist and pulled her to his chest.

"We better get started then…" He smirked again. Amera kissed him on his neck, the only place she could comfortably reach, and he lifted her a little higher. She pulled away from his neck, now eye to eye with him, and smiled. Johnny leant forward now, and kissed her, holding her tightly so she wouldn't slip from his grasp. His hands slid down to her thighs, and then he picked her up, wrapping her legs around his waist and carried her over to the bed. Before he put her down, his hands slid around to her lower back, and he snapped away suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Amera smiled coyly, biting her bottom lip and Johnny laughed in shock.

"You're not wearing any…"

"Panties? What would be the point if they'd be coming off right about now?"

"I like the way you think…must be my influence." Johnny smiled and dropped her on the bed. Amera crawled backwards on the bed as Johnny kneeled between her legs; he then grabbed hold of her hips so she'd stop crawling further away from him. He pulled her closer and slid his hands up her sides, slowly removing her one-piece nightdress.


	50. Chapter 50

Amera and Johnny were awake, sitting on his bed watching the morning news; Amera was sitting between Johnny's legs, trying her best to understand the news but gave up after a while. They were now just watching the news coverage of the previous night's events with the silver surfer and Galactus.

"Ooh…!" Amera and Johnny both cringed when they saw the footage of Amera hitting Doom with an I-beam.

"You could enter the Major League with batting like that…" Johnny laughed and sent Amera into hysterics. Johnny wrapped his arms around Amera and they carried on watching the news when they saw the I-beam go through Doom's hand device; then Johnny remembered that the device that was in Amera's system was set on a detonation timer.

"Hey what about that device?" Johnny asked, trying to look at Amera over her shoulder.

"I tried to get it out in water element last night when I went to the bathroom, but it seems that it's made of unstable molecules, so it changes elements with me." Amera shrugged without looking back at Johnny.

"Damn! How are we going to get that thing out?" Johnny asked, trying to get Amera to look at him.

"I have an idea, but we should do that when we're back in New York…we might need Reed's lab." Amera turned to look at him and reached over her shoulder to touch his cheek.

"Do we even have that long?" Johnny asked, leaning into her hand.

"I read some of the data it was giving off…it looks like I have 74 hours left."

"Three days? Why would he set it for so long?"

"Is there _ever_ any good reason to Doom's madness?" Amera shrugged and leant back into Johnny's shoulder, kissing him on the neck. Johnny smiled and kissed Amera, running his fingers through her messy hair. Amera pulled back and smiled, looking back to the TV.

"It was nice of the hotel to arrange a wedding for Sue and Reed on such short notice." Amera said, looking at the news broadcast about the impromptu wedding.

"What? When did this happen? Why don't I know anything?" Johnny gaped, looking at the TV.

"Susan messaged us both last night; well I got my message up here…" Amera joked, tapping her forehead.

"…but you should have a message too. Check your communicator."

Johnny leant over to the side table and picked up his communicator, reading the short message from Susan about the wedding.

"Well, we got less than an hour to go downstairs and start getting ready…" Johnny shrugged. Amera kissed him again and smiled.

"Ben's coming. See you in a little bit…" Amera shrugged, and then she was gone. Ben knocked loudly on Johnny's door, and Johnny smiled to himself smugly.

"Hey tinkerbell. My cuz better not be in there!" Ben shouted through the door.

"Tease him just a little bit…I dare you…" Amera whispered to Johnny from the air around him. Johnny leant back against his headboard and smiled.

"What if she is, pebbles?"

Ben roared in anger from the other side of the door, and the next moment the door flew off its hinges and into the room. Ben walked in huffing angrily until he saw Johnny sitting on his bed alone.

"Where is she, matchstick?" Ben shouted angrily.

"I don't know. Still asleep I guess…" Johnny shrugged.

"Don't you get wise with me! I know she was in here, I heard you talking to someone…"

Johnny jumped off the bed and looked under it jokingly, before standing upright again.

"Not under there…then again, the TV was on…maybe you heard that?" Johnny said thoughtfully while looking over at the TV. Ben roared in anger again and ran for Johnny; Johnny quickly jumped over the bed and to the other side.

"Ben? What _are_ you doing?" Amera said, from far down the hallway where her room was.

"Amera?" Ben said, walking to the door to see where she was. She was heading down the hallway towards them when Ben stuck his head through the door. When Amera arrived at the entrance of Johnny's room and saw the door lying in the middle of the room, she looked up at Ben.

"What in the world are you doing?"

"I thought that…I heard him talking to someone…" Ben started and then trailed off.

"Did you think I was in here?" Amera frowned at him, and Ben looked slightly ashamed.

"But…you could've gotten out…"Ben started again and Amera tilted her head at him.

"How in the world would I have done that…?"

"With that air trick of yours. I've seen what you can do. You could've…" Ben mumbled.

"Well, no…but that is a good idea for the future. Thanks Ben." Amera smiled and turned around, heading back to her room.

"Not funny Amera, not with _him_. Don't even think about it!" Ben shouted as she stopped at her room door.

"Don't worry Ben. Going to have a quick shower before heading downstairs. See you later." Amera waved and closed her bedroom door once again. Ben swore silently and trudged back down the hall to his own room. Johnny picked up his room door and put it back in place as best he could. As the door reached its original place, the hinges straightened out and the pins rejoined so the door hung as it did before. Johnny smiled and headed to his bathroom, hearing the shower turn on as he entered.

"You're sneaky. Ben's going to catch you one day." Johnny said as he stripped off his boxers and stepped into the shower as well.

"Well, that is _if_ he can catch me…he must get used to it." Amera laughed, wrapping her arms around his waist. Johnny smiled and lifted her chin, placing a hot kiss on her lips.

"I was just thinking that…" He smiled, and leant in for a deeper kiss. Amera ran her hands up his bare, wet back and then wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Without breaking their kiss, Johnny's hands slid down her back and picked her up fluidly, wedging her between the wall and his steaming body.

"We only have 30 minutes, Johnny…" Amera whispered to him in between lashings of his tongue. He pulled back for one moment and smiled with a wink.

"That's _just_ enough time for me…" He whispered back to her before clamping his lips over hers again.


	51. Chapter 51

Amera and Susan were pinned down in the hotel's boutique, having their hair, makeup and nails done simultaneously. Susan kept dead still as her makeup was being applied, but tried her best to speak to Amera.

"What's keeping Ben up? Alicia is going to be late!" Susan said quickly, only to be shushed by the lady applying her eye shadow.

"He should be here soon. Maybe it's just the traffic." Amera said while smiling for the lady to apply her blush. Soon enough they heard Ben's deep voice approaching the closed boutique doors, and the doors swung open as soon as his voice stopped.

"Hey ladies, one bridesmaid as ordered!" Ben joked, and showed Alicia to the only open salon chair.

"Are we getting ready for the big one this time, girls?" Alicia said, just in time to have five stylists descend upon her and start working. They quickly worked on applying make up and doing her hair as fast as they could.

"Quickly ladies! We only have twenty minutes left till they have to leave!" The head stylist shouted to all the other stylists, and they responded by working a lot faster. Amera was the first one to be finished with all her styling, and was quickly pulled out of her chair and into a dressing room with another stylist.

"Quick darling, undress." The stylist ordered her, and Amera took off her robe in a heartbeat. The older lady wrapped Amera up in a red and gold silk kimono, and tied her obi around her waist.

"Good, you're ready. You look beautiful." The stylist said, and showed Amera out of the fitting room and back into the boutique. Amera stood to one side as nearly eight stylists were around Alicia and Susan was already getting dressed.

"All right ladies, send her to be dressed." The head stylist ordered the others to help Alicia to the fitting rooms. Amera stood alone in the boutique, surrounded by the fifteen or so stylists that were now finished with their jobs. They all looked rather nervous, and started talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Do you mind if we…uhm…" One of the stylists said, holding up a small compact digital camera. Amera couldn't help but smile back at them.

"Sure, we got a few minutes to spare." Amera said, waving them to come over to her. The women squealed collectively from the excitement and joined Amera on the other side of the boutique. They started arguing about who was going to take the pictures. Amera quickly took the camera out of their hands and it floated away until they were all comfortably in the frame.

"Come on, smile for the camera." Amera said quickly, and they all looked at the camera and smiled before the flash popped. After that, the women took turns taking photos of each other with Amera. Just after all the women had their photo taken with Amera, Susan and Alicia finished getting dressed. Before Amera could compliment Susan on her lovely white kimono, they were all led to a limousine outside.

"I can't believe I'm getting nervous again." Susan blushed as the words left her mouth, and Amera and Alicia both smiled.

"Don't worry, Sue. You're beautiful and the wedding will go off without a hitch." Amera said, grabbing Susan's hand to comfort her. They drove another ten minutes until they reached a park with tall, black gates. The gates opened expectantly and they drove into the park; there were blossoming cherry trees everywhere with the white petals being caught on a gentle breeze. The limousine stopped and Susan shooed Amera and Alicia out of the car before she got out. Johnny and Ben were standing at the end of the drive, waiting for their accompanying bridesmaids. Ben eyed Johnny as he helped Amera out the car, waiting for any reason to slap him. Alicia was next to climb out, and Ben diverted his attention to her as he helped her out the car.

"You look beautiful." Johnny said to Amera while he thought Ben wasn't listening. Ben turned around; Alicia linked into his arm, and he stared at Johnny through slit eyes.

"No hanky panky, you hear me, matchstick?" Ben grumbled at Johnny.

"You got it, pebbles." Johnny laughed, standing ready to walk down the aisle. The two couples walked down the aisle towards Reed, taking their respective places alongside the altar. The bridal march started, and the crowd stood, seeing Susan walking up the aisle alone in her white kimono. Reed swallowed hard as Susan arrived at his side, looking down at her with a smile. The priest started his sermon, and within less than five minutes, Reed's pager went off. Reed grabbed it quickly and stopped the beeping as fast as he could.

"What was it?" Susan asked with a small smile on her face.

"An oil tanker going down in the Adriatic…" Reed shrugged it off and nodded to the priest to carry on.

"Ooh, that's a biggie." Ben added quickly, but then looked away before Susan could scold him. Susan turned to the priest with a small smile.

"Can we skip ahead to the important part?" Susan said, gesturing with her hands. Reed smiled widely at her, and as soon as the priest was done, they signalled for the Fantasticar to come pick them up. Amera had fixed it earlier with her metal manipulation, and it looked almost the same as it did before. Susan stepped up to the Fantasticar and threw her bouquet into the air. Almost a dozen women standing in the crowd; even the one that helped them escape from the military base; eyed Johnny eagerly and made to jump for the bouquet.

"Heads up Johnny, your fangirls are hoping to score with you." Ben said to him. Johnny turned to see what he meant and sent a small flame at the bouquet, charring it almost instantly and causing the crowd of single girls to scatter.

"Sorry ladies, I'm a taken man…plus she'll kick my ass." Johnny joked and Amera rolled her eyes at him. They got into the Fantasticar; Amera sitting in the middle division with Johnny and Susan; and the Fantasticar split up, signing their signature '5' in the sky.


	52. Chapter 52

After saving the sinking oil tanker in the Adriatic, the team returned to the loft. They all seemed content enough to be home, except for Amera. She seemed nervous, so nervous that even Reed and Susan picked up on it.

"What's wrong Amera? You look rather…scared." Susan asked, walking up to Amera. Amera and Johnny exchanged worried looks when he realised why she looked so nervous. He wrapped her in a tight hug and began to explain to Reed, Susan and Ben.

"The device that Doom put in Amera's body…it's also a bomb. When we destroyed that device on his hand, a timer activated. She's tried to get it out already, but she thinks it's made of unstable molecules." Johnny finished, and kissed Amera on the forehead.

"But I thought that you burnt out the device? How can it still be functioning?" Susan asked, trying to get an answer out of Amera.

"It seems that the protocol is one that can't be restructured or stopped. There's a completely independent device in the other one that I can't reach. So the molecules in the device have to be stabilised and then it can be removed." Amera answered, looking to Reed. Susan turned to Reed as well, her face serious.

"Tell me there's a way we can fix this Reed…"

Reed stood still for a moment contemplating the ways to get the device out of her system. He could only think of a handful.

"Amera, would you like to come to the lab with me? I have some ideas that might work." Reed asked Amera, and she nodded and followed Reed to the elevator that went up to his lab. Susan, Ben and Johnny stood frozen in the hallway.

"How could Victor do this to my little cuz? She's so young…" Ben sounded sad, but angrier than anything else. Susan started walking to the elevator and pressed the button, waiting for the elevator to come back down. Neither Ben nor Johnny followed her; she turned around and spoke to them.

"Reed is going to fix her…but we have to be there for her…she's _family_, not just a team member."

Ben and Johnny went to the elevator as well and headed up with Susan to the lab. When they reached the top, Amera was lifting the glass pieces from the porthole with an air current and melting them back together to reform the dome. There were several projection screens floating above the console, and Reed was looking at them intently.

"I was wondering when you were going to join us." Reed said, not looking away from the computer screens. Susan joined him behind the console, looking at the screens as well.

"Reed, they're all so dangerous. We can't do this to Amera…" Susan almost stuttered, but kept calm enough to get it all out.

"I suggested them, Susan. It's the only ways I can think of to get rid of this thing…" Amera said, stepping away from the glass porthole and letting the glass cool a little. Ben walked up to Susan and Reed, and Johnny joined Amera by the porthole.

"I've decided on one…it's going to hurt but it'll work…" Amera said, and her team mates' faces were suddenly burning through hers. She looked down quickly and prompted another projection to appear, showing her idea.

"We can shock the device, which unfortunately includes me, until the molecules stabilise. Then I can phase into water element and we can remove it." Amera explained as the pictures flashed across the screen. Susan shook her head and looked at Amera.

"No ways Amera, we can put you in the radiation chamber and you can undergo the surgery as a human. We'll put your powers back once you're healed." Susan pleaded, knowing the consequences of Amera's idea.

"I considered it, Susan. But the bad thing is once you lose your powers, you might not always be guaranteed to get them back…it's amazing that Ben got his back after the whole Doom incident last time." Amera explained to Susan again. Susan looked to Reed for conformation, and he nodded with Amera's statement.

"Amera's idea might be the only one that'll work…but we'll need some help…" Reed finished, and started phoning a few people. Johnny turned to Amera, his face as serious as she'd ever seen it.

"Just promise me you'll be fine…and I'll stand by any decision you make." Johnny almost begged her, and Amera was suddenly on the brink of tears. She wasn't used to seeing Johnny so sombre, scared even; she never thought she'd see that from him and it broke her heart.

"I…promise…I'll try my best." Amera blinked furiously, forcing back her tears. Johnny wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders and pulled her to his chest.

"I've contacted a neurosurgeon, a cardiologist and a few more surgeons to help us out with the procedure. If it doesn't go as according to Amera's plan, we'll go over to the surgery." Reed sounded hopeful, but slightly worried about Amera's plan. Johnny let go of Amera slowly, to see her give him a small smile. They soon heard the sirens coming up the road and stop right below their building.

"Those should be the surgeons…Herbie please let them through and direct them to the lab." Reed directed Herbie, and soon enough the surgeons were all in the lab. The five surgeons laid their eyes on Amera and Johnny standing by the porthole; most them looked as nervous as Amera felt.

"Is that…who we're going to…monitor?" One surgeon asked Reed, knowing Amera was still quite young.

"Yes. We're ready to start the procedure and are ready for assistance when necessary." Reed said, and Amera knew that was her cue to go sit on the improvised surgery table. Johnny walked with Amera to the table, picking her up and sitting her on the edge.

"You'll be ok, right?" Johnny asked, taking her hand softly in his and squeezing it.

"Of course, who else is going to boss you around?" Amera joked lightly. Johnny smiled and kissed her on the forehead. The surgeons set up their equipment around the table, getting ready to start.

"You three should probably be in the cocoon for this…" Reed said to Ben, Susan and Johnny. Susan took her brother away from Amera and led him to the cocoon. Once their three team mates were in the cocoon, Amera started shaking from the nervousness.

"Come on Amera, it's time to start." Reed said, and Amera lay down on the table reluctantly. The surgeons strapped her hands and feet down to the table. Reed stood next to her, seeing how nervous she was, and tried his best to reassure her.

"These are some of the best surgeons in the state. They'll take good care of you…" Reed smiled, but Amera didn't stop shaking.

"I know…I'm just thinking. The maximum time for the brain to be starved of oxygen is about eight minutes. But I run a little hotter, so it's probably closer to four minutes because of my metabolism…so after four minutes…it's not worth the time…to revive me." Amera said, tears running steadily down her face and evaporating.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure that this is done in four minutes." Reed smiled down at her and she nodded nervously. Reed went to the cocoon with the remaining members of his team, and made sure to lock the door. Reed switched on a scanner to find the device and keep track of when the molecules were fully stabilised. The surgeons stayed below on the lab floor, and Reed pressed the intercom button.

"You ready, Amera?" Reed asked, and Amera nodded. Reed let go of the intercom button; the surgeons stood ready as Reed flipped the switch. Once the electricity began flowing, they could hear Amera's high pitch scream even through the soundproofing of the cocoon. She thrashed hard against her restraints, trying her best to fight the muscle spasms. Ben and Johnny both looked near to physical pain as they heard her screams. Reed watched the monitor as the molecules began to stabilise in the device, and then turned off the switch. He hit the intercom button again and spoke to the surgeons.

"Start revival. The timer is running." Reed said, quickly heading to the door and going down to the lab floor; the others couldn't help but follow. They heart the heart monitor droning out the ominous monotone, and Johnny froze behind his sister.

"She's dead? She picked _this_ and she knew she was going to die?" Johnny said, close to the point of breaking down.

"She'll be fine, Johnny. The doctors will help her…" Susan said, but was already steadily crying. The surgeons loosened the restraints and started the defibrillator, charging it and putting the paddles to her bare chest. Her body jumped as the first charge ran through her body, but nothing happened. After another six shocks and three minutes, they were fast approaching their maximum time limit. Johnny and Ben stood frozen to one side of the table, staring at Amera's lifeless body. Johnny snapped and ran up to the table, grabbing Amera's hand.

"Come on, you said you'd try your best! You can do better! Wake up, Amera!" Johnny said to her quickly, hoping in vain that she'd hear him. The doctors pushed Johnny back and tried once more, putting the paddles to her chest. Her body jumped, and as soon as she hit the table her pulse was back. Her heart monitor spiked again, and the surgeons all let out a sigh of relief. Amera cracked open her eyes and looked around her, to see Johnny and Reed above her.

"Was that four minutes?" Amera asked groggily.

"Almost. But we need you to go into water element…" Reed said quickly. Amera phased into water, and the device that was embedded in her body was now lying on the table. Reed reached into her body with a pair of surgical tongs and pulled out the wiry device. As soon as the device was out, Amera phased back to her human form and smiled up at them.

"I'm tired, wake me up later." Amera mumbled and closed her eyes.

"No, Amera! Wait!" Reed said, but she had already slipped away into a coma.


	53. Chapter 53

"I'm worried about Johnny; he's been so out of it lately." Susan sighed, looking towards the passage that led to the bedrooms.

"He'll be fine. It's his way of dealing with it I suppose." Reed shrugged. Meanwhile; Johnny was just waking up. He sat up in his bed and gazed over to his clock on his bedside table; it glowed with a red 10:45am. He could've carried on sleeping and not have felt any better. He put his head in his hands and mumbled.

"Hey Herbie, how long has it been?"

"It's been three weeks, two days and 20 hours." Herbie answered, not bothering with anymore specifics.

"Thanks, Herbie." Johnny mumbled again, getting up and heading to his bathroom. He stripped down and climbed into the shower, leaning against the wall and letting the water beat down against his back. He watched as the water evaporated off of his body, creating a constant whirl of steam in the shower. He turned off the shower and headed to his cupboard, grabbing the first pair of pants and shirt he saw.

"Johnny, I have a message from Susan, she asks when you're going to join them." Herbie asked quickly.

"When I'm done, ok!" Johnny snapped back at Herbie, and Herbie didn't bother with anymore questions. Johnny got dressed as slowly as he could and then headed through to the lounge. Reed, Susan and Ben were sitting in the lounge, dressed to head out for the day.

"Hey, Johnny. How are you feeling today?" Susan asked, trying her best to sound comforting. Johnny flopped down into the couch and sighed.

"Fine…I guess." He shrugged his shoulders and grabbed the remote, flipping through the channels.

"Well, I might have a little news that might cheer you up, Johnny." Reed said, and Johnny shot upright and turned to Reed expectantly.

"Her brain wave responses peaked for a long period last night. I think she might wake up really soon, although we can't really be sure…" Reed said cautiously as he saw a smile break across Johnny's face.

"I could go up for the day…keep an eye on her." Johnny offered quickly.

"Maybe later. We don't want to unsettle her. Herbie will call you if something happens." Reed finished, and they all stood to leave.

"We're heading to the Fire Fighters Charity Auction. You can join us later if you want, but you don't have to." Susan said, grabbing her brother's shoulder sympathetically before walking to the elevator with Reed and Ben. Johnny watched as the doors closed, and got up again. He headed down the passage to Amera's room, and stood in front of the door.

"Herbie, will you please open the doors." Johnny said loudly, and the doors opened for him. He stepped into her room and looked around. It was still the way she'd left it; bed neatly made and her desk tidy. He sat on the edge of her bed and looked at the way she'd decorated her room; he never really took notice of it, but everything in her room made him think of her in some way. He fell backwards onto her bed, smelling her sweet fragrance wafting up around him.

"Johnny, what in the world are you doing?"

Johnny shot upright and right off the bed, looking around her room. Amera was definitely not in her room, and he frowned angrily.

"Herbie, not funny. This doesn't even remotely qualify as a joke." Johnny said loudly, but looked around one last time.

"It's not a joke, I'm awake. Now what _are_ you doing in my room?" She said again, sounding sort of mischievous. Johnny didn't answer her; he bolted straight out her room and to the elevator that went up to Reed's lab. As the doors opened at the top, Amera was sitting up in her hospital bed and looking towards the elevator. His breath froze in his lungs as she smiled at him.

"I said it wasn't a joke." She shrugged, and Johnny walked up to her bedside. He immediately hugged her as tight as he could before leaning back.

"Why didn't Herbie tell me? How long have you been awake?" Johnny said quickly, and Amera shushed him.

"I asked Herbie not to tell. I've only been awake for about half an hour…I wanted to surprise you." She smiled again, and placed a light kiss on Johnny's lips.

"Best surprise I've gotten in a while…" Johnny smiled, and kissed her again. He pulled back and smiled down at her.

"Try not to do _that_ again, ok?" Johnny sighed, and hugged Amera again, burying his face into her hair.

"I'll try my best to avoid evil masterminds' devices in the future." Amera laughed. Johnny pulled back slightly and pushed her hair over her shoulder.

"I missed you…and that silly laugh."

"Hey! It's not silly…"

"Well, it makes my day, so it's a good thing." Johnny smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Where did everyone go? I saw you were the only person in the house." Amera asked, referring to the few screens she had around her with footage from the security cameras.

"They went to a charity auction. We were all invited…so would you like to go?"

"Yeah, but let's go flying. I don't feel like being cooped up in car right now."

"That's my girl. Let's go you some decent clothes." Johnny said, and helped her out of bed. He draped his arm around her shoulders as he walked her to the elevator and took her down to her room.


	54. Chapter 54

They flew over the city as slowly as they could; making sure to leave noticeable trails of fire. People gasped and pointed towards them as they flew over head; they had obviously noticed her absence over the past few weeks. Crowds started forming as they flew down the streets to the venue where the charity auction was being held.

"Remind me how your flame is yellow and not normal orange like mine…" Johnny asked, leading Amera to the charity auction while flying backwards.

"I guess it was _that_ whole experiment…you know the stuff I put in the data pod. It would've been cool if it was blue or something like that." She smiled at him, spinning and making patterns as she flew. Johnny looked around and stopped in midair, looking down at the street.

"Well here's the auction house. Any ideas on how to surprise them?" Johnny joked.

"I think that just being here will be more than enough of a surprise."

They dropped down to the street below, touching down on the pavement softly after extinguishing their flames. There were hardly any people around, and not many stayed around to stare. They walked inside the auction house and practically right into Susan and the others.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't watching…" Susan stopped when she laid her eyes on her brother and Amera, standing right before her.

"Amera? Johnny? When did you…how did you…oh…!" Susan sobbed happily and wrapped Amera in a tight hug. Amera hugged Susan back and pulled back from Susan's hug.

"I just woke up about two hours ago…so you must've just missed it." Amera laughed and Ben picked her up for a hug, scooping her up by her waist. She hugged him around his neck and laughed.

"About time cuz, you were taking forever to wake up…" Ben laughed and Amera laughed back at him. Ben put her back on the ground and she immediately hugged Reed, making him reel back a little before hugging her back.

"Thank you Reed, for not letting them give up on me." Amera said while hugging Reed and he could only smile. Johnny quickly pulled her away from the three of them and started leading her out the door.

"Hey where are you guys going?" Susan asked, almost gasping at the thought of Amera leaving again.

"Places to go, people to see, that's stuff." Johnny smirked and led Amera out the door and down the street. Susan turned to Reed, to see him smiling at Johnny and Amera.

"What are you smiling at?" Susan asked quickly, trying to read his expression.

"Nothing…nothing at all." Reed shrugged and led Susan out the door and to their car. Johnny and Amera walked down the street for a little while before Johnny stopped Amera on the sidewalk.

"Hey, look up there…you missed the release…" Johnny nodded and Amera followed his line of sight to a billboard on the side of a building.

"Oh my word! It's _huge_! I didn't know they were going to get billboards…" Amera gasped, looking at the billboard that had a larger than life image of herself and Johnny on it. It was the one shot that they got the Johnny had drawn fire trails down her arm, and with the black backdrop it looked amazing.

"I guess they kinda knew something was going on back then…" Johnny whispered to Amera over her shoulder. She smiled with pink spots on her cheeks and they carried on walking to the border of Central Park, when Johnny turned to Amera.

"Feel like a walk?"

"Sure, it'd be good to get some fresh air." Amera smiled, and Johnny wrapped his fingers through hers and walked into Central Park. They walked down several winding paths before finding a quiet section of the park where few people ever walked through. They sat down on the bench and looked through the trees, to see a few people playing baseball in the field.

"They missed you…we all did." Johnny said, gesturing to the people playing baseball before placing a kiss on her forehead.

"I missed you too." Amera smiled at him, knowing what he really meant. She leant into his shoulder, prompting him to put his arm around her.

"You know, I heard you when you were shouting at me to wake up…and all those times you came up to talk to me in the lab…" Amera looked up at him from the comfort of his shoulder, and he swallowed hard.

"Well…I meant everything I said."

"I'm guessing so…but I don't remember everything you said to me, I just remember your voice speaking to me…nothing specific." Amera sounded rather sad at the thought of what she missed out on. Johnny sighed, and thought back to all the things he said to her. He said so much to her, to try and remember everything was impossible. Amera looked up again at the perplexed look on Johnny's face and gave him a break.

"Ok, you don't have to tell me _everything_ again; I'll get it from Herbie later." Amera said, and Johnny smiled. They sat silently for a few more minutes, watching the people go by. Before long, Johnny started getting restless and started shifting around in his place. His body heat started going up and eventually he had to get off the bench because it started charring. Amera quickly suffocated the start of the fire with a vacuum before looking up at Johnny curiously.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling alright?" Amera said, looking rather worried. Johnny nodded at her before starting to pace up and down the pathway, leaving Amera staring at him peculiarly from the bench. Eventually Amera couldn't take anymore and jumped up in front of him and grabbed his shoulders.

"Johnny! What is wrong? You're acting really weird."

Johnny didn't answer her; instead he grabbed her by the shoulders and sat her back down on the bench. Amera looked up at him, rather worriedly until he started speaking.

"While you were out cold, I spoke to you about a million things. But one thing I remember most was talking to you about this _crazy_ thing you and I have. I sat for hours talking about it with you, and I remember thinking of something that I didn't tell you. You're the one woman in my life that's been with me the longest, except my sister and my mom. We talk about everything, we're always around one another, and we're always there to help the other out even with stupid stuff. After all the stuff we've gone through with our other relationships…we still found the time to hang out. You're my best friend…" Johnny finished suddenly, and reached into his pocket for something. Amera was already on the brink of tears from his long speech, she didn't quite notice what he pulled out his pocket.

"Reed's the only one who knows…he kinda helped me out with the whole unstable molecule thing…" Johnny said, and Amera noticed his pocket looked like it had a small box in it. Before she could ask him about it, he dropped to one knee in front of her, causing her to lose her breath for a second. Johnny smiled at her as he saw her reaction.

"I love you, and even after almost three years of knowing you, I still want to see your face every morning when you wake up. It would be my greatest honour if you'd marry me." Johnny finished and held out a ring, one that he had just slipped out of his pocket. Amera was breathing shallowly between her gasps as she saw the ring, and Johnny's sweet blue eyes looking up at her. Her skin started glowing white and the flow of tears started evaporating on her cheeks.

"Yes! Yes! Of course!" She nodded furiously at him, and he slipped the ring onto her quivering finger, making her cry a little more. She pulled him off of his knees and up to her, and placed a kiss on his lips. He kissed her back as he leant over her knees, and she grasped the back of his neck. He pulled back a little and leant their foreheads together, smiling at her.

"I love you." He whispered to her, and she smiled back at him.

"I love you too." She smiled at him and kissed him once more.

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**And so we reached the end of "Initium: The Fantastic Five". I hope you guys enjoyed the story, and there is a sequel currently in the works. To the lovely readers that have a story alert on this, I will add the first chapter of the new story here so you will know that the next story has started. Also, you might have noticed any spelling mistakes or stuff of the like, you may note me with the offending words. :D**

**I appreciate all the love, reviews are much appreciated if you have the time.**


	55. Chapter 55 - Error of Parallax

**Hello one and all! After what turned out to be an extraordinarily long hiatus, I have returned. Alas, I have not squandered this time, I have been typing FOUR Fantastic Four based fanfics. This one is the longest of the four; the others are more short story/one shots involving our beloved Johnny Storm and Amera. This is the first chapter of the next fancfic; Error of Parallax. The first chapter will be posted as a new story, so be sure to check it out for the updates because this will be the ONLY chapter being tagged onto the end of this story! Much love to all my dedicated readers and reviewers, you have kept my going :D**

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It was almost seven in the morning when their alarm clock went off. Johnny's eyes cracked open a little as he rolled over to switch off the loud beeping noise. He stretched a little before rolling over again to face Amera lying next to him. She yawned and opened her eyes a bit to see Johnny smiling at her; she smiled at him before he leant over to her.

"Morning beautiful." He whispered to her, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. She smiled again and shrugged into his warm chest, prompting him to wrap his arms around her.

"Morning handsome…" She mumbled almost incoherently into his chest.

"Are you ready for a day of more ground-breaking experiments?" He asked her softly, and she nodded against his chest.

"Yeah, I'm excited…but being in your arms is _so_ much more comfortable…" Amera said, finally pulling her head from his chest and looking up at him. He gave her another tight squeeze before brushing the hair from her face and smiling at her.

"It's almost time for us to go up…" He whispered to her again, placing a soft kiss on her lips and gently letting her out of his grasp. Amera smiled at him and rolled over to her side of the bed and sat on the edge, looking out of the window. She yawned before she stood up and stretched, and then strolled to the bathroom stark naked for her morning routine. She brushed her teeth, brushed her hair and got into the shower. She wasn't in the shower for long before Johnny joined her, slipping in behind her.

"You know what they say, save water…" Johnny smiled and kissed Amera on the back of her neck. She laughed softly as Johnny ran his warm hands over her wet torso, making her skin prickle with goose bumps.

"Come on, we're going to be late." Amera said, turning around in Johnny's arms and placing a wet kiss on his lips.

"They have to wait for you anyway…" Johnny smirked at her.

"But the wormhole isn't going to wait for me." She smiled at him and kissed his wet lips again. She got out of the shower a few minutes later, followed shortly by Johnny; both of them evaporating the water droplets off their skin. Amera strolled out the bathroom naked and to her cupboard to get her Fantastic suit. She reached out for it; and Johnny walked up behind her, placing another hot kiss on her shoulder before taking his suit out of the cupboard from behind her. Amera took her suit off of her hanger and laid it on the bed, before phasing into her air element and slipping into her suit effortlessly. Johnny smiled over his shoulder at her before trying to slip into his own suit. Once he had his boots on, he stood up and they headed out and up to the lab. Reed and Susan were already there, setting up their equipment for the experiment. Once they saw Johnny and Amera enter the lab, they knew it was almost time to go. Reed called Amera over to the console to start giving her a set of instructions.

"Morning, Amera. I hope you slept well. Here are the instructions for today and the special communicator we built for the wormhole. I've worked out that the time fracture is about two years ahead of our time, so if you get there, we should still have this detector to send you back…if not, the plans are on your communicator along with some other things that you might find useful." Reed said quickly and furiously, pointing to her new communicator and a giant detector satellite dish that Herbie was surveying on the roof. Amera nodded and smiled at both Susan and Reed, making them feel a little bit at ease.

"We've gone over this before, guys. I know the drill. Relax, I'll be fine." Amera said, hooking her new communicator over her ear. Reed and Susan carried on preparing all the equipment, and Amera went over to Johnny standing at the far side of the lab. He smiled as she came over to him, and she smiled back at him.

"Time travel should be fun…I might see if we _ever_ decide on a wedding date…you know, since we've been engaged for two years…" She mocked him and he smiled down at her.

"Hey, I've been saying for the past year that we can fly over to Vegas…just you and me…" He joked with her, but she mock-pouted at him with her wide blue eyes.

"I want a proper wedding, like the _several_ Reed and Susan had." Amera stared at Johnny with wide eyes until he sighed in defeat.

"Ok, I surrender. When you come back we can start talking about the wedding." Johnny smiled down at her and pulled her into a hug. She looked up at him and placed a kiss on his lips, making him smile.

"Hey! Enough of that! I don't need to see that so early in the morning…" Ben grumbled somewhere behind them. Amera slipped out of Johnny's grasp and spun around to face Ben.

"When are you going to get used to the fact that we're engaged?" Amera said with a slightly smug undertone and Ben grumbled at her angrily. Amera laughed silently at Ben, and Johnny joined in as he wrapped his arms around Amera's waist from behind. They stood waiting for the equipment to be up and working, and after ten minutes it was finally running.

"Amera, it's time to head out." Susan said to her across the lab. Amera slid out of Johnny's grasp again and kissed him one more time before heading to the middle of the floor. She switched on her communicator and waved to all of them before lighting up in her light form.

"Remember, everything you need is on your communicator if something goes wrong!" Susan said quickly before Amera disappeared. Amera nodded again and the skylight opened up for her. In the blink of an eye, she beamed out of the lab and into the atmosphere, heading past the moon in seconds.

"Note for future reference; no need to breathe in light form. I have no idea why I didn't notice this before." Amera said into her communicator, letting go of the spare oxygen she had with her. She flattened out her body into a thin streak of light, and zoomed past the last few planets in their solar system.

"More notes; traveling above the average speed of light. Must be the human influence." Amera said once again and stopped, floating in space. She looked back at the planets behind her and activated her communicator, taking a picture of the solar system.

"Not everyday people get to say they've been this far…" Amera said to herself and carried on flying. She started following coordinates from her communicator, telling her where the wormhole would be. She was nearing the edge of their galactic arm and the wormhole appeared from nowhere. Amera smiled and zoomed right through it. She was expecting to see a dizzying illusion of light and matter, but it seemed like she just flew through a doorway. She was back in her galactic arm, and heading through their solar system again. She was excited to see if the experiment had worked, if time travel really was possible. She saw her familiar blue planet up ahead and located the spot where New York was on the North American continent. She burned through the atmosphere and through the skies of New York, setting her sights on the Baxter Building.


End file.
